


Dragon's Tears

by Elfflame



Series: True Revenge Saga [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Drama, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2003-11-23
Updated: 2003-11-22
Packaged: 2017-10-18 15:28:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 39,136
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/190315
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Elfflame/pseuds/Elfflame
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Draco always adored his father. How will he get even with him when Lucius goes off and has a new family with a woman other than Narcissa?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Father and Son

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: So, this was supposed to be the final piece in a four-part epic that started off as a simple story in my head about Narcissa. However, the whole thing became quite the epic. I do hope you'll go back and read the entire series, in order—True Revenge by me, and Dark Descent and De Die In Diem: From Day to Day by Foodie. The important thing, though, is that you read the other stories, as this story relies quite heavily on the first three.
> 
> This story changes the pattern of third person perspective we have been using from the first story. For some reason, Draco comes to me better in first person. But who am I to argue? :P
> 
> This story is all about Draco's relationship with Lucius, and hopefully, by the end, the Malfoys will be a slightly happier family. This chapter in specific is Draco's early life to the end of book 5. After that, the story's entirely from scratch. I hope you like it.
> 
> Also, as I hope everyone knows by now, definitely not mine, wish they were, but I am having fun playing with them, and I promise I'll put them back without too much damage once I'm done, and I promise I'll pay for any therapy they need after. :D

_Father and Son_

We never get to choose the parents we get, and most of us become used to them. We see the way they are as normal. After all, we have nothing else to compare them to. They can be cruel, but we still want them nearby in the night to run to, even after being rebuffed again and again. They can hit us, ignore us, curse us, and still we want their attention. We can't help it. They're the only parents we have. And we want their love.

Some might say that I was particularly lucky to get the parents I did. Others are quite thankful that they did not have my luck. Once, I agreed with the former, but now… Now I wish that I'd never been born at all.

And someday, I hope to make my father wish it, too.

My father. Lucius Malfoy.

My early childhood was much what any child dreams of. Malfoy Manor is immense, nearly a castle, and I was never without toys or playmates. Anything my avaricious little heart desired was mine. I had the newest and best of everything. My father loomed large in my life those first few years. Anything I did was commended. And immediately rewarded. He passed on to me the Malfoy family history, and Rules for Life. However, I also spent time with my mother when father wasn't around. She too, was from a great pure-blooded line, and she passed on many things about them to me.

Unfortunately, those idyllic days did not last long. By the time I was six, I was expected to practice magics that were not even taught at Hogwarts, though I often heard my father say that I would be going to a much better school so I could continue my studies in Dark magics. The lessons were interesting, but difficult for a child who had little control over how strong his magic could be. And when I failed in my task…The punishments were never good.

My only playmates in those days were those approved by my father. Children who came from families as wealthy as our own. Pansy Parkinson, Gregory Goyle, and Vincent Crabbe were the most frequent visitors, and though their company was dull at best, and annoying at worst, I put up with them, contenting myself that I would find better friends when I got to Hogwarts.

There was another child that I had never met who was still a constant companion through those early years: Harry Potter. Everything I did was compared to him. My father was constantly telling me how I just couldn't stack up. After all, he was the Boy Who Lived. He had survived the unsurvivable. Avada Kedavra. And he had not even been two. Yet I was unable to break the hold of the Imperious curse when father cast it upon me. I was weak, I was pitiful, and I could never possibly compete with him. How I hated him.

I did manage to escape the fate of attending Durmstrang, though. Mother, never a strong woman when it came to my father, was quick to leap to my defense when my letter accepting me to Hogwarts arrived. She knew I did not want to go to Durmstrang, and she was actually willing to suffer for me to attend the school I wanted. So I attended Hogwarts. My years there were some of the best years of my life. Despite a certain dark-haired, green-eyed goody-goody. Father had told me to try to cultivate his friendship, but after being rebuffed twice, I discovered that I actually quite enjoyed being his rival much more. I was the top of every class, aside from those I shared with the mudblood who always hung around with _him_.

Summers were spent back under my father's thumb, and more and more I was compared to that other boy, the hero of the wizarding world. Every effort I made was not enough. I was in misery. It seemed that there was no way to please my father.

I had always admired my father. He was perfect, powerful—everything I wanted to be when I grew up. But as I got older, I discovered that my "perfect" father was far from that. It all started shortly before my second year, in a little shop I had drug my father into the day we went to get my school supplies from Diagon Alley.

Usually, when we were in public, father's punishments were more subdued. But this year, he seemed especially impatient, so anything I did was met in the very least with derision and scorn, and often with a smack from his leather-clad hand or his silver-headed cane. After father made a quick stop at Borgen and Burkes, I insisted we visit one of my favourite shops—aside from Quality Quidditch Supplies, that is. It was a little place called Notable Notions, a little trinket shop that sold everything from crystal and china dishes to antique toys. I loved to go there, because I never knew what I would find.

I had gone to the back of the shop and discovered a wonderful set of army men that were shooting at each other when my father came up behind me. He raised his cane, and I covered my face to shield it from the blow, but it never fell. When I snuck a look from behind my hands, I discovered him lying sprawled across the floor, staring up at some woman. She glared down at him, then laughed, taunting him.

I was awestruck. A _woman_ had struck down my father? She turned and strode past me, winking as she did so, and disappeared from the store. I would soon mark this day in my life as a dark one, but at the time, it left me feeling quite light-hearted. She was gorgeous, and I think I found myself a little enamored of her. Besides, if a woman could do that to my father, I had hope. That moment stuck in my mind for a long time.

I hurried to his side and helped him up, knowing that if I did not, I would be severely punished later. After father had recovered his dignity a bit, we left the store and joined what we found was a growing crowd inside Flourish and Blotts. And, I soon discovered, Potter and his hangers-on. I tried desperately to control my anger at his prancing, but soon found it was unnecessary for me to do so. It seemed that Weasel's father was also at the store. He and my father had been at each other's throats for many years, and it was not long before they were throwing punches at each other as though they were no more than common Muggles. Though father sustained minor injuries, as we swept from the store, I noticed an odd grin on his face, but I did not feel courageous enough to ask why.

That trip to Diagon Ally resonated beyond that day, as I was to discover later that year. But it resonated in more ways than one. I knew that my father had mistresses. Many of them, in fact. Not a few of which were my classmates' mothers. But somehow, when I learned the next summer of my father's new playmate, I was horrified to discover that it was the same woman we had seen the summer before in the trinket shop. Mother expounded on how she had arrived at the New Year's masque she and father attended each year, dressed in mother's words "In barely enough cloth to cover her bits." I learned from my mother that the woman had then had the audacity to get herself invited to a dinner they had attended at the Minister's house, and that she had proceeded to seduce father, "At the dinner table, no less! The hussy."

However, I did not see any signs of my father's infidelity that summer. He was as harsh as always, and ever-present, so I simply assumed that father had simply spent too much time with the woman at the two parties, and mother had been jealous of the attentions he had spent on her.

But the next summer I saw for myself just how besotted father had become. The days he was home, he was dreamy and distant, though if I brought myself to his attentions, he immediately resumed his usual demeanor, berating me and telling me what I was doing wrong. Aside from this, though, there were days, and even a couple weeks that summer when he would simply disappear without a word, and when he reappeared, he seemed more dreamy then before.

As I watched this little travesty, my anger began to grow. Father could not bring himself to say a kind word for me or mother, but this woman had him wrapped in knots. Apparently, he was willing to be at her beck and call, while we were unfit to lick his shoes.

At school, I sank myself into schoolwork. My head of house, Professor Snape, had become like a second father to me. He too, hated that green-eyed git as much as I did, and I delighted in watching him tower over the fool, and take points by the dozens from his house as the boy ground his teeth to keep from responding.

Third year passed by quickly, and fourth as well, each with far too much of the wizarding world's attention spent on that green-eyed git. The summer between them was little different, with father disappearing for much of the time. But the events of the final task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament would change all that.

When I arrived home that summer, expecting to find a happy and powerful father once more, I was horrified to discover that the return of my father's master had only seemed to weaken him more. When he knew I was around, he was still abrupt and scolding. However, I had found ways to spy on my father due to the events of the summer of my third year. Now I watched him grovel to his master when he thought I was not around. And I was horrified to find that my father, the man I had always seen as utterly in control, was reduced to little better than a sniveling, whining house-elf.

I waited patiently for him to approach me about becoming a Death Eater. It was, after all, what I had always been promised. That I would take my place at my father's side, and that together we would be among the most powerful wizards in the world. But whenever I tried to bring it up, father quickly shut me down. Told me not to mention it, and that some questions were better left unasked. When I persisted, I was sent to my room to stew. Did he think me so unworthy? I was certain I could stand up to his master. Probably better than father could himself. The coward. He probably just didn't want me to out-do him.

The summer passed in a haze of anger. Until my letter arrived. I was made a prefect. Father was well pleased. For the first time since I was a young boy, he showered me with gifts. There was a solid gold and silver wizard's chess set with a promise from Father that he would play with me sometime soon; a brand new pair of dragon-skin shoes; and a set of 4 miniature soldiers that shot tiny bullets at one another. When I opened this last present, I was surprised at the odd look on Father's face. As though the soldiers should mean something to me. But all I could think was that he still saw me as a child. It infuriated me.

However, my mood quickly improved when I discovered to my utter delight that Potter not only had not been made a prefect, but he had _nearly_ been expelled. This greatly improved my mood. I was beside myself. This would be my year.

But when I arrived at school, I began to wonder if I was wrong. Sure, the martyr of the wizard world seemed more depressed than usual, and sure I got to watch Snape bully him in our very first class together, but he still had far too many followers for my taste. Despite what the Daily Prophet had been saying about him all summer. Then I heard about his blow-up against our new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Umbridge. Father had spoken of the woman, so I knew she was from the Ministry, and that she was there to watchdog that Muggle-loving freak Dumbledore, but I was thrilled to discover that she hated the Boy Who Lived as well. I delighted in hearing the rumors that were being spread about the freak, and made sure to pass them along, adding bits of my own.

I was especially thrilled to provide her with a reason to toss him from the Gryffindor team. A lifetime ban! That was sure to get father's attention. Yet still, he ignored me. As though he were hiding me from his master. I was furious.

I redoubled my efforts.

Then, shortly before May, my world collapsed around me. As I was walking to the library early one evening, I saw Professor McGonagall, carrying a baby along with her usual stack of books. Curious as to what a baby would be doing at Hogwarts, I decided to investigate. As I passed, I quietly cast a spell that caused some of the books she was carrying to fall to the floor. I heard her growl to herself, then she turned to see me standing there and shoved the baby in my arms. "Here, hold her for a minute, please?" She turned back away from me to pick up the books.

As I looked down at the child, I was horrified to discover that she looked almost as I had in my own baby pictures. Pale blue eyes met mine, and the few silver strands of hair on her pulled back by a green headband with a little silver ribbon. She had been fussing as the Professor had carried her, but now she simply looked at me, as curious as I was. Who was this child? Was she my…sister? Had father really gone and had another child with that woman? I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't notice when Professor McGonagall waved me after her, or that I followed her distractedly until we reached her office.

She was startled when she looked at me once more. "Mr. Malfoy? I…um…" I had never seen her at a loss for words before. She quickly grabbed the baby from my arms, which set her howling, and sent me from her office, with an admonition to tell no one what I had just seen, and that Professor Snape would come to see me shortly.

I walked back to the Slytherin common room, dazed. I had only seen _that_ woman once since the time we had "met" at Diagon Alley. She had come to the school, and tried to start a conversation with me, but I had brushed her off. That was less than a year ago, shortly before the end of the school year. Was this why? Had she been pregnant, and wanted to get friendly with me? Perhaps she thought that Father would leave Mother for her, and wanted to make sure that she was on good terms with me?

By the time I reached the common room, I was livid. How _dare_ he? He ignores my mother and me for years in favour of this woman, then has a _child_ with her? I stormed towards my room, planning on writing my father a _very_ nasty note, when I felt a hand on my shoulder. Professor Snape. For once, I actually glared at him. "You knew!" I growled at him.

He pulled me out of the room, and guided me towards his office without a word. Once there, he set privacy spells up before turning to me. He completely ignored my attempt to stare him down and moved to his desk, though he did not sit down. "Sit," he told me. I glared at him for a few moments before I complied. I was furious, but he was still the best teacher in the school. I would at least listen to what he had to say.

"Mr. Malfoy, I don't know what you think about what has just happened, but you are not to mention it to _anyone_. Least of all your father."

This surprised me. Did he mean what I thought he did? Did father not know about this child? "Sir?"

"You know who your father serves, Draco. You know what dangers that puts his family in. I cannot and will not allow you to put her in that position. Do you understand?"

Startled at Professor Snape's vehemence, I simply nodded.

He sat down. "I need your word that you will not speak of this. Do I have it?" He looked at me pointedly.

"Yes, sir," I managed to spit out.

I could tell he was not pleased with my reluctance, but he relaxed just a bit. "I will hold you to that, Draco. Don't disappoint me." With that, he waved his hand and the wards around the door disappeared. "You are dismissed."

I fumed about it for days afterwards. I hated secrets. Particularly when they involved me. But I kept my mouth shut. Whatever his reasons, Professor Snape wasn't someone I was ready to cross. I didn't see that child again for quite some time, though I continued to keep my eye out for her that year.

Soon I was distracted by school concerns. Dumbledore was gone, Potter was in disgrace, and I was on top of the world. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Between Umbridge falling right into Potter's trap, and father stupidly being arrested at the Ministry of Magic, by the time school was out I had just about forgotten about the baby.

And when I returned home for summer break, I received an even greater shock.


	2. Father and Son

_Fade to Black_

The return trip home was no fun. Potter's cronies had hexed Crabbe, Goyle and I on the train, and by the time I'd stumbled out to the platform, it was quite late. Mother was not pleased. I had felt my father's anger many times, but this was the first time that mother had done more than scold me lightly. Now the entire trip home was spent with her glaring at me. But that was only the beginning.

Once we entered the manor, I could tell something was wrong. There were boxes in every room, and all the portraits had been taken down from the walls. Mother told me to follow her, and we walked to father's study at the back of the house. I held my tongue as we walked, but I was horribly curious. What was going on? Had mother finally had enough and kicked him out? Or perhaps she was leaving him? Goyle's parents had separated in our second year, but pureblood marriages rarely ended in divorce. True, father was in Azkaban, but would mother really be strong enough to stand up to him? Her previous attempts had never lasted long.

We entered father's office, and Mother motioned me to a chair as she closed the door behind me. Father's desk was scattered with papers. Mother sat down behind it. She looked at me for a moment, and I was sure she was finally going to begin to scold me. But when she spoke, I was horrified.

"Draco, we are no longer the owners of Malfoy Manor." I was speechless, but mother continued. "As of next week, we have to be completely out of here."

"But…why?" This was unbelievable. More than ten generations of Malfoys had been born in this house. What had she done? How could mother let it go?

"It seems your father had been putting on a front for several years now. We have nothing left. We are destitute."

"How did this happen? When did you learn this? Why didn't you tell me?"

Mother's face was cold when she spoke again. "I got the notice a few days after Lucius was arrested. Your father has been borrowing from everyone. There's nothing left, Draco."

I was stunned. "Everything's gone?" All the portraits, the furniture I'd grown up around, that generations of Malfoys had used…all gone. Because of _him_.

"We are allowed to take a few things, but no furniture, and the portraits will be put into storage. I'd advise you to pack quickly. There will be a car arriving to take us home soon."

"Home?" where could she possibly mean?

There was a sour look on her face. "My father's house. Now, go and pack, Draco. Time's running short."

I left the room with my head spinning. How could I possibly pack my entire life? How could I live anywhere but here? I mean, sure, I lived at Hogwarts nine months out of the year, but even so, this was where I was born, where I had had said my first word, taken my first step…cast my first spell! Who would I be if I no longer lived here? How could I still be Draco Malfoy?

I went through the motions of packing. There were several house-elves helping, but even so, it took a long time before I was certain there was nothing left that I was willing to leave behind, aside from the furniture. The bed was the hardest to leave behind. I'd slept in it for as long as I could remember. It was the first place I went to each year when I came home from Hogwarts. How would I be able to sleep in another bed? Even at Hogwarts, I only tossed and turned. Sleep was something that only happened in that bed. I swore to myself that someday it would be mine again.

Then I found myself in the hall, surrounded by far too few belongings, watching as the luggage was moved into the car that waited to whisk me and my mother away from the house that had belonged to uncounted generations of Malfoys, but would now probably be sold to the lowest bidder.

The ride to Grandfather Black's house was just as silent as the one to Malfoy Manor had been. I had no wish to talk about anything, and simply sat there, lost in thought. What did this mean to my life? Was I still Draco Malfoy? I felt as though everything in my life had come crashing down. How could he do this to me?

We arrived at grandfather's, and though I had met him once or twice before, he was still much of a stranger to me. Father had insisted that I not be 'coddled' by grandparents, so neither of my grandfathers had been welcome at the Manor. I was rather startled by what I saw. The man was obviously in his last years. He made Dumbledore look like he was my age.

He greeted mother warmly, kissing her cheek, then turned to me. "Ah, Draco, my boy. How you've grown. You look just like your father did at your age."

I grunted noncommittally.

He turned back to my mother. "I realize it's not as lush as you're used to now, Narcissa, dear, but there is a suite on the second floor all set up for you and Draco to share."

"Thank you, father. I'm sure it will be fine."

The summer passed slowly, with little to do but wander the halls of Grandfather's house—far smaller than Malfoy Manor, certainly. Occasionally, I would spend all day in my room, until mother insisted that I get out and get some air.

Father disappeared from my life. There were no letters, and I had no way to contact him. All my letters, sent first to Azkaban, then later simply addressed to "Lucius Malfoy" were all returned when I tried to send them. I was furious with him. How dare he desert us in this way? He hadn't treated me like his son in years. I was just an annoyance to be discarded when he was bored with me. Well, that was fine. I didn't need him anyway. I'd take on a new name, one that let him know just how I felt. Let him keep the Malfoy name. It meant nothing now, anyway, thanks to his antics.

And so I legally changed my name to Black. I was startled at just how easy it was. Grandfather was horribly pleased. The last male heir of the Black family had died just a few months before, after all. This would mean a new beginning for the line.

The new school year soon began, and though Crabbe and Goyle were unfazed, most of the rest of the Slytherins, Pansy especially, were horrified by the name change. But the best reaction was yet to come. It was not until our first Potions class that Potter heard of my name change. He was livid. And his reaction caused Snape to take two hundred points from Gryffindor. It was delightful. For the rest of the year, any time someone would call me by my new name, I would sit back and watch Potter's reaction. His face would go red, and his fists would clench, and those eyes would shoot sparks in my direction. I loved it. It was better than taking points from Gryffindor the year before. I'd taken his godfather's name. It was brilliant. Why hadn't I tried it before?

Unfortunately, the pleasure my name change provided did not last long. One evening in late October, I was out on the pitch practicing for the first match of the season. Potter had been re-instated, and I wanted to make sure I was at my best. He hadn't been on a broom for a year. I was sure to win this time. I was closing on the snitch when I saw something moving from the corner of my eye. I turned to see a young woman walking down the Hogwarts lawn towards Hogsmeade. She seemed somehow familiar to me, so I abandoned the snitch, and followed her on my broom. When I got close enough to recognize her, I was horrified. It was _that woman_. Was her child still staying with Snape? I began to wonder, and soon I found myself constantly walking by Snape's rooms, in the vain hope that I might hear something. Some snatch of a baby's cry…But what would I do if I did? Who would I tell? Why did I want to know? It haunted me, but I could not let go. Who was that child? Was she truly my father's daughter?

Though I did not see her again, I could not stop myself from thinking about her. I knew that my father had escaped from Azkaban, but at the time, I thought he had returned to his master. Now I wondered. Could he be with that woman, still? And if so, was that their child? Had he chosen that _girl_ over me? But then why had that woman been at the school? Perhaps he wasn't with her? Or, perhaps he didn't know about the girl…Snape had suggested something of that sort, hadn't he? Perhaps she was worried that Lucius would hurt the baby? Worse, kill her?

The rest of the school year was spent in a funk. I still got a charge when Potter was angry about my name, but alone…Alone, other things occupied my mind. Anger. Pain. And Shame. Shame that this man, who was related to me by blood, was more interested in a little fling, than living up to the good name he had originally given me. I was pleased, at least, that I could cut him by making sure that _he_ would be the last of the Malfoy line. It ended with him. My children would be Blacks. As would theirs. He would not win.

The school year ended, and a new one began with no further letters or any kind of contact from my father. Fine. If he wanted it that way, I would make sure to forget him, too. I could live without him.

But I couldn't. Though I wanted to hate him, in the end, the anger ate me alive. I had to find a way to get even with him. My final year passed in a blur. Voldemort was defeated, and Potter became the hero everyone knew he was. Damn him. My NEWTS went well, and then I said good-bye to my friends, good-bye to school, and returned to my grandfather's house.

There still was no real need for me to work, as grandfather intended to leave me everything, except for a small allowance for my mother to live on. So I began to plan. Unfortunately, I was sidetracked. My grandfather became quite ill, and I spent much of my time sitting by his side. He died in January, and my plans were put off again as I dealt with the lawyers. Now I was a Black in fact as well as name.

Time passed quickly as I dealt with legalities, and it was a while before I was able to go back to my plans. Another summer had passed before I had time to return to them. I hired a detective in August, and he went to work. Unfortunately, the woman was hard to track down. It seemed she lived in the Muggle world, and was that much harder to trace. Another year passed before I had an address.

Now I had the means to do to him what I wanted. But it wasn't enough. I had to go see him, first. I had to know. I had to hear from his mouth that he no longer wanted me. And a few more months passed before I got up the courage to go see him.

The girl would be older I knew, and I had had confirmation from the detective that my father was indeed with _that woman_. But harsh reality hit me when I found myself outside their window one week, shortly before Christmas. Now I knew. He didn't want me. He couldn't care less what my name was any more. He had his perfect family. And I did not belong in it.

They were gathered around a tree. But it wasn't just Father, that woman and the girl. There was a new girl, looking quite like her mother as she toddled around the woman's ankles while Father held up the older girl so she could place the star on the top of the tree. And worse, that woman was pregnant _again_. And this time, it would probably be a son. One he could truly be proud of. His truly perfect son. Not like me, the one he had discarded…

I ran from the house, as fast as I could, and when I collapsed to my knees, I began to heave. I sobbed into the night, coughing up mucus and little else, the cold wind biting at my cheeks.

I knew now. There was no hope. He didn't want me, or need me. But I wasn't about to let him forget me. He would remember. And I would make sure of it. He would live to rue the day he discarded my mother and me. He would pay.


	3. Toy Soldiers

_Toy Soldiers_

 _It is the wisdom of the crocodiles, that shed tears when they would devour.  
_ \- **Francis Bacon**

Before I could begin my vendetta against Lucius, however, I first had to make arrangements. After all, the head of the Black family could not simply disappear without a trace. I spent months with the lawyers again, this time making arrangements for my mother's upkeep, for funds to keep up the house, funds to be sent out to the proper charities, all done so that no one would even notice that I was gone. I shared my true plans with no one, however. And at twenty years of age, who would really care if I disappeared into the woodwork for a while? I had cut off all contact from my Slytherin cohorts, and mother was the only person I spoke to at any great length anymore. It was possible she knew what I was up to, but if she did, she made no comment, and neither hindered nor helped me as I made my preparations.

I rented a small flat in the town nearest that woman's home, and began to stock it with the things I thought I would need. I took a house-elf with me, as I would have no time or patience to upkeep the place myself, and along with my clothes, I took the gifts father had given me over the years. My chessboard and the soldiers father had given me as reward for becoming prefect were the most important of this lot. I remembered now when I had seen the toy soldiers before. It had been _that_ day. The day I had first seen her. Probably the day _he_ had first seen her. I would make sure to use that against him. In the most painful way possible. They, along with a few of those gold and silver chess pieces would be my calling card.

So, armed with a plan, I set out to make my father as miserable as he had made me.

I spent several months just watching them go about their business. She was gone much of the time. Working, I assumed. While Lucius spent all his time chasing after the now three girls they had had together. The third child was even more shocking than the other two. If I had not seen her in his arms, I would have been certain she was a Weasley. I wondered to myself which Weasley she had cheated on father with to give birth to such an orange-haired monstrosity. And how in the hell had she convinced him to accept the child? Every time the thing cooed, he looked as though he would melt on the spot.

I had also arranged for several types of magical spying devices, though many of these stopped working the moment I brought them onto the property. Though I stood far away, I could hear every word Lucius and his mistress spoke to each other, and was often quite nauseated by their "loving" words. However, this also helped me along in my plan. I had decided that the best way to hurt him—punish him—was to do what he had done to me. To take away the thing, or in this case, things, that he cared for most. Those girls. And now, listening to him, and her, talk to them, I knew all their names.

Reni, or Renata, was the eldest. She was the one I had held in my arms five years before. Her blonde hair bounced as she walked with him, her hand clasped tightly about his. She had the Malfoy attitude, often displayed when she was especially displeased with her father. She would be easy. After all, she was just like me.

Kali, or Kalare, was the second girl. She looked like a small duplicate of her mother. And she was easy to hate. Though the girl was barely three, Lucius had her out on a broom every day, giving her encouragement and praise, telling her that she would be the best Slytherin Seeker ever. But she also idolized her older sister, doing anything Reni told her, often to the point of getting into trouble that Reni so easily slipped out of. If I could get Renata to come with me, Kalare would follow willingly.

The red-headed child was Teecie, or Ticia. And despite the fact that she was barely six months old, I could tell that she would be the most trouble of the three. She doted on Lucius. Whatever she was doing, the moment he was in the room, her head would turn to him, and she would giggle, coo…anything to get as close to him as possible. And he returned the favour. She was obviously his favourite. I could see it in the envy in Reni's eyes.

So, a target in mind, I began my first forays.

I noticed that Lucius often spent time with Kali and her broom in the afternoons. However, the first time I had noticed this little activity, I had watched my father limp out after the girls, Teecie in a carry sack draped over his front. He leaned heavily on his cane, and in my mind flashed an image of that familiar, silver, snake-headed cane that I had been hit with so many times before. How dare he be in anything less than perfect health? But if he thought showing weakness would make me back off, he was sorely mistaken.

During the time Lucius spent teaching Kali, Reni often sat at the top of a small hill crowned by an old olive tree. Because he was usually alone with the girls, I knew it would be a simple thing to approach her without his notice at this time. So, early one morning in late spring, I placed the first of the soldiers up on the hill, and waited, hidden, to see her reaction. She was startled, at first, then curious. She picked up the soldier and looked around. I could practically read her mind, as I knew exactly how I would have reacted to the situation myself. Curiosity would soon be followed by suspicion, then avarice. After all, it had been left on _her_ hill. Therefore, it must be hers. She slipped the soldier into the pocket, but continued to look around. "Hello?" I heard her call. But I could wait. I had to take this slow. Wouldn't do for her to get too suspicious, now, would it?

The next day, I repeated the process, this time leaving a card with her name on it. Now she was truly curious. I watched as her eyes darted across the space that separated us, then away, to try and find her new benefactor. But still I stayed away.

However, the third day, when she had looked away, from where I was hiding, I stepped into view. She jumped when she saw me. Her eyes grew wide.

"Who…who are you? Do I…know you?" I shook my head. Not a word. Let her speak. I had to show her that I wasn't threatening. Had to gain her trust. I knelt down so that we could see each other better. "You seem…familiar. Like I've seen you before. And…you look…like me." I smiled, nodding. "Have I seen you before?" I smiled and nodded again. Now it was her turn to smile. "I thought so. Uncle Sev says I have an amazing memory. That I'll be the smartest Slytherin ever to attend Hogwarts, him included." My mood darkened as I thought of my former teacher. He was in on this? How could he? Didn't he know what Lucius had done to me?

It was time to go. I didn't want my mood to affect my plans, so I rose, waved to her, and walked away, ignoring her cries of "Wait! Don't go yet! I want you to meet Papa!" With those words, I sped once more to my hiding place, and disapparated to my flat. Too close. If Lucius had seen me…

I did not repeat the process the next day, and was treated to Renata's sorrowful reaction when she discovered no new soldier waiting for her at the top of the hill that day. However, I was quite pleased that I had not continued the process when I noticed that woman was home. She joined her daughter at the hill-top, and I shuddered, wondering what she would have done had she caught me talking to her daughter.

I repeated the process after waiting for the woman to disappear off to wherever it was that she went when she was gone for days at a time. This time, however, I waited for Reni with the toy in my hand. When she saw me, she grinned. "I thought you weren't coming back." She ran to my side, a wide grin on her face. This disturbed me a bit. It felt so nice to have someone who was pleased to see me, but I couldn't allow this to deter me from my course. I smiled down at her and handed her the soldier. "Thank you," she said. "I'll put it with the others. I play with them every night. They're so cool." She looked up at me again. "Do you have a name?"

I smiled. I'd been thinking on this a lot. I knew, eventually, that I would have to tell her something, so I'd made sure to decide what to say before hand. "You can call me Dragon."

Her eyes lit up. "I like dragons."

"So do I."

"I like snakes and lizards, too. Father says that I'll be the perfect Slytherin when I get to school. He's even going to allow me to take a snake. Uncle Sev says that he'll make sure that it's alright for me, so that I don't get into trouble about it."

I frowned.

She looked up at me, worried. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you, Dragon."

I shook my head. "Not you, little one. Don't worry. I'm not going to disappear so quickly this time."

She grinned again, and we talked for several more minutes before I told her it was time to leave again.

"But you'll come back and talk with me again, won't you?"

I smiled down at her. "Of course, little one." Then I patted her on her head, and turned and walked away to my apparition point.

In the days that followed, I learned many things. I discovered that Reni's mother was currently teaching at Hogwarts, and was therefore gone four days out of the week. Reni and I visited on those days, and I stayed away from the hill on the days I knew that woman would be home. Reni told me of her frustrations of dealing with two younger sisters, and I listened patiently as she told me, while I gloated, that sometimes she wished that her Uncle Sev was her father, and not Lucius. I was patient, kind, and understanding. Each time we visited, I brought her a new toy. One of my own, all given to me at one time or another by Lucius.

Spring passed to summer, and I had to be more careful with my visits with Reni, as now that woman was home a great deal more. I would wait at my hiding place until I saw Reni come up the hill by herself and call my name. I told her that I was her magical friend, but that I would have to go away if either of her parents found out that we visited together. To this, she easily agreed. I could tell she liked having secrets of her own.

Towards the end of the summer, Reni told me that she would be forced to stay inside a lot more come autumn. She said Lucius would be giving her things to learn, and so she wouldn't be able to visit with me as often. I told her that any time she wanted to visit with me, all she needed to do was come up to the hill and call my name, and if I could, I would come to her. "Thank you, Dragon. I'd miss you if I couldn't see you any more." She hugged me, and I felt my throat tighten. Lucius didn't deserve her.

When autumn began, I sat in a car I had rented and enchanted to drive for me. It was getting colder now, and it would do no good for me if I were to catch pneumonia or something like that. And so I continued to watch and to listen, as Teecie began to walk, and Reni's reading improved. Kali began to whine when she discovered she would not be allowed onto her broom every day any more, and I could not suppress a grin. Take that, you little brat, I couldn't help but think.

Time passed slowly as I watched Lucius and his new family. Reni came to call for me a few times that autumn. Most times, I simply sat and listened to her complaints. Teecie and Kali got all Lucius's attention. Her mum was gone too much. Now that she was almost six, her father expected her to take on new chores like taking out the garbage and drying the dishes while her father washed them. I simply smiled, and assured her that I would never expect such things from such an important girl as her.

Then Christmas began to approach, and I knew that I had to get away. I left a note to Reni in the knot of the tree, using simple words that I knew she would be able to read, telling her that I should be back in time for her birthday in January. Then I returned to my flat, and sank into a depression. I knew what would be going on at that house. I'd seen it before. And I couldn't watch it again. And so I spent a month alone in my flat, and when I would look back on the time later, I was sure that this only increased the pain I felt. The images my mind created had to be far more torturous than what happened in actuality.

I recalled the happy family image I had seen the year before, father holding Reni up so that she could put the star on the tree, and Kali toddling around her mother's ankles as the woman rubbed her pregnant belly. Now there would be five of them. Would he let Kali put the star on this year? Or would he let little Teecie, who was too young to even understand what was going on, but insist that she should do it, simply because he loved her best? I could see the three girls dressed in winter coats and hats, rolling about in the snow, making snow angels, and helping Lucius create a snowman. I ground my teeth together.

The only "happy" Christmas memories I had were of my father sending me off to bed early so that I would be out of the adults' way as they got drunker and drunker. I even recalled one Christmas when I heard a giggle outside my door, and opened it to see my father with Pansy's mother, right across from my room. Her legs were wrapped around his hips as he bucked into her, and her head was thrown back as she gasped, his mouth on her neck. I had swallowed my nausea, quietly closed the door again, then run to my bed and hid under the pillows to muffle the sound of what they were doing.

I drowned my sorrows in firewhiskey that year, and only managed to pull myself out of my depression by reminding myself of my plan. But I wasn't ready yet. I still had to finish "seducing" Reni's love away from Lucius so that she would go along with whatever I said, and soon I would have to begin on Kali as well.


	4. The Waiting Game

_The Waiting Game_

I had the perfect gift to give to Reni for her seventh birthday. Lucius had given me a cloak for my seventh birthday that had been my pride and joy. The cloak was made of a deep emerald green velvet, soft to the touch, and iridescent in hue, and the lining was the softest rabbit fur I had ever felt, just off-white, with a silvery tint. Slytherin colors. I had paraded around in it for days, despite the fact that my birthday was in April, and the cloak was stifling in the heat. I had always promised myself that I would pass it along to my own son at the same age, but this would be far more gratifying. Watching Lucius try to figure out how the girl had got the cloak, and why it seemed so familiar.

I knew Reni would love it. Her gasp as she opened the parcel was quite rewarding, but the true reward came several days later when Lucius and the girls appeared outside once more, so that Kali could spend some time on her broom, Teecie still in her usual pack on Lucius's front. I could see Lucius looking at his eldest daughter askance, as though he should remember something, but wasn't quite sure what it was. Reni twirled in her new cloak, then sped off to the top of the hill to wait for "Dragon" to arrive.

I waited until his attention had settled on Kali before going over to talk with Reni.

"Hello, little one."

Reni grinned up at me. "Hi, Dragon!"

"Did your papa like your new cloak?" the curiosity was overwhelming. I had to know how she had managed to keep the cloak, and whether or not Lucius had recognized it.

"He…he seemed like he didn't like it. But I told him that Uncle Sev sent it to me. He didn't like that much more, but he's learned not to upset mummy by throwing stuff out that Uncle Sev sends."

True Slytherin, this sister of mine. I only hoped the others were at least as Slytherin. Not that I'd like them better, but it would at least make them tolerable.

Reni went on to describe all her gifts in detail. She had received several packages from "Uncle Sev," a gift from Alastor Moody, one each from her parents, and two more from her sisters. There were new clothes, hair things, an enchanted tea set that served real tea in Slytherin colors, and a new album in green for all her mementos and memories to be placed in.

She told me how her mother and Severus had visited for the day, despite the fact that it was a school day, and that they had had party hats, and her favourite flavour of cake, chocolate, along with strawberry ice-cream, and they had then gone out to the movies and seen the latest Disney movie. When I asked what a movie was, she told me that was like pictures in wizarding books, but on the wall, and so huge that it covered the entire wall, and there were sounds, as well as the picture. She said that if she'd had her way, it would have been the Hobbit they would have gone to see, but Lucius had insisted on something lighter, for her sisters' sakes.

Then Severus had treated them to dinner at a nearby restaurant, before he and that woman had gone back to the school and Lucius had made his way back home with all three of the girls in tow. My father, the house-husband. Never mind that they weren't even married. I decided it was time to go, as it was hard to disguise my disgust from my sister, despite her distraction. I told her I would be back again at the end of the week, and that we could visit again then.

Time passed, interspersed with visits, and soon it was late spring once more. I had spent a great deal of time working on convincing Reni that I should meet her younger sister, Kali. I already knew how much she hated talking about her younger sister, but I had no idea she disliked her quite so much. I only managed to convince her to bring her up to meet me with the promise that I would not give her nearly so many cool presents.

So, shortly before Kali's fourth birthday, I spent days going through all my memorabilia from my father for the perfect gift. I was at a loss until I recalled Kali's fascination with flying. What better to give her than my now defunct Nimbus 2001? I had a new broom, top of the line, that I had bought myself my final year at school, but that had still not given me the ability to beat Potter when it came to Quidditch. I certainly wouldn't miss my old broom at all.

And it was the perfect gift to give her to worm my way into another of Lucius's daughters' hearts.

The week before Kali's birthday, Lucius sent the two girls outside, as Teecie was teething, and he needed the peace, since that woman had disappeared earlier that morning. Probably off with another man. Reni immediately set off up our little hill, dragging her sister behind her. I stepped out of my hiding spot to meet them. Kali was startled at my appearance, and hid behind her sister. Reni just laughed, and jumped forward to give me a hug. "Dragon!"

"Hello, little one. I see you brought your sister."

She wrinkled her nose at me, then glanced behind her. "Yeah. Kali, come here."

I had been waiting for this meeting for days now, and had told Reni not to visit with me until she could bring her sister with her. Now, as the girl timidly walked towards me, I could feel my victory against Lucius coming closer. This was too easy. "Aren't you going to introduce us properly, little one?"

Reni glared at me for a moment, then took a deep breath and stood straighter. "Dragon, this is my sister, Kalare Leda Orendes."

I knelt down to be face to face with the girl, and held out my hand to her. "Hello, Kalare. It's good to meet you." I was surprisingly pleased that up close, she looked much less like her mother than I had thought.

Kalare looked up at me with huge eyes, touched her hand to mine for a second, nodded, then pulled away and hid behind her sister again.

I looked at her and smiled. "Your sister tells me it's your birthday in a few days. How old will you be?" She held out her hand, four fingers sticking up, and smiled shyly. "Four, hm? You know, when I was four, I got my first broom. Do you like to fly, Kalare?" She looked up and nodded wildly, a grin spreading across her face. "I have a present for you, but you have to promise me that you'll be careful on it, because it's not a practice broom." The broom she'd used with my father's help was a simple practice broom that could never get more than a few feet from the ground. "Would you like it?"

"Yes," she whispered. I walked to my hiding place and pulled out the package. When she saw the shape, her eyes became huge. I watched the grin spread across her face as she tore at the paper. When the ebony black stick appeared, she looked as though she would explode with happiness. "Fly now?" She looked up at me.

I had debated with myself about this. Could I get away with helping her fly? But I had decided on the side of discretion. The broom would be enough to set Lucius worrying. I didn't want to give him a chance to catch me. Not yet, anyway. "I think you need to talk to your papa about that, Kalare. But I hope you enjoy it."

We parted soon after. I could tell that Kali was desperate to show her father her new toy. But Reni came out a few days later and told me how their father had been quite suspicious about the broom, so she'd told him that she'd found it on the border of the property, partially covered by a bush. It seemed he'd accepted the excuse, but he was now more cautious with the girls. He was much more watchful with them when he was out with them, and Kali did not get to use her new broom, no matter how much she wailed.

More time passed, and this time when Christmas rolled around, I made sure to be gone for the entire month. I spent the month with mother, and was horrified to hear that Severus Snape had been trying to get in touch with me for most of the year, and had been getting more persistent since August. This was something I would have to deal with. Perhaps Lucius _had_ recognized the presents I had given the girls. I would have to throw them off the scent.

I called on my former teacher a few days before Christmas. Severus had taken over as Headmaster after Dumbledore had died in the final battle against Voldemort. It had shocked many, but everyone knew that McGonagall had not wanted the job, and he had quickly settled into the role. As I made my way up to the Head's office, I wondered what I would say to put him off my scent if he was thinking that I was watching Lucius and his new family.

McGonagall was waiting for me at the gargoyle. "Mr. Malfoy. How good to see you."

I winced. It had been years since I had been called that. "Black, Professor. I haven't been a Malfoy since my sixth year, remember?"

The damned woman smiled at me, and said, "Oh, of course, Mr. Black. How I could I forget?" She turned to the gargoyle. "Veritas." The gargoyle jumped aside, and I stepped onto the stairs, and soon found myself in front of that damned door.

I knocked, and heard the familiar growl of my old Potions Master. "Enter." I stepped into the office, and was horrified by the nostalgia that swept over me. It had not hit me through the entire trek through the school, but now, seeing Snape, I had to stop for a moment and regain my composure. He had changed over the years. His black hair had heavy streaks of silver, and though he was as tall and slender as he had been when I had attended Hogwarts, his back was curved in, as though he had the weight of the world resting on it. But those black eyes were as probing as ever.

"Draco. Do sit down. Would you like something to drink, perhaps? I could have the house-elves bring something up."

I knew better than that. If he _was_ onto me, he'd try to get it out of me, any way possible. "No, thank you, Headmaster."

"Now, Draco, no need for formality between us. Call me Severus."

I took a deep breath as I took my seat, then looked back at him. "Severus," I smiled. "Mother said you've been trying to contact me this year. I'm sorry that I did not get back to you sooner, but I've been doing a bit of traveling. Been incommunicado. What did you need to talk to me about?"

"Traveling? On your _broom_ , perhaps?"

I laughed at this, though my stomach sank. "Why on earth would I do that, Severus? Such a cold way to travel."

"So you left it behind, your Nimbus?"

"My Nimbus? Why on earth would I take that? I haven't used that for years."

"So, it's just lying around your house somewhere?"

"Unless mother has seen fit to donate it to someone."

"Donate it?" I could tell from his darkening expression that I was playing a dangerous game here, but I couldn't stop. They couldn't know. I wouldn't let them.

"Of course, Severus. Mother spends a great deal of time doing charity work. She often finds things lying around the house that are no longer used, and donates them to worthy causes."

"I see. I did not realize that stalking people was a 'charitable work.' Perhaps your mother is not as 'charitable' as you think? This," he pulled the Nimbus from under his desk and dropped it sharply on his desk, "Was found on the edge of the Orendes property, Draco. What would it be doing there?"

One of the most important skills I had learned from Lucius was how to bluff perfectly when I was panicking inside. "Orendes property? Should that mean something to me, Severus? And how should I know how it got to be there?" I glared at him as though he had accused me of stealing from him. My sneer was perfect.

But he wasn't fooled. He stood and towered over the broom, his desk, and me. "Don't play me for a fool, Draco. I know you put it there. What I want to know is what charms you put on it to hurt those girls. Or was this meant for your father?"

I could not stop the sneering smile that spread across my face. "My father? You mean Lucius?" I drawled. "I have no idea where the man is, so how could I send _anything_ to him to hurt him? And as for girls, I have _no_ idea what you're talking about, Severus." I stood and looked him straight in the eye. "I think we're done here. Perhaps we should do this again some time. I'll owl you when I'm feeling the need to be accused. Good afternoon."

The long-fingered hand snatched my wrist before I could so much as turn. "Don't play games with me, Draco. I know you remember your sister. The little girl I swore you to secrecy about? And I told you then, I will not allow harm come to her. That now extends to her sisters as well. You _don't_ want me as your enemy, Draco. Stop whatever it is you're doing. _Now._ "

I snorted. "So father had more mongrels with that woman? He really has sunk to new depths." I pulled my wrist from his grasp. "Good bye, Severus. It's been…interesting." Then I turned and swept from the office.

By the time I reached the hallway once more, I was fuming. How dare he? How dare he threaten me. How dare he stand by that…man…who called himself my father? Snape would pay too. But first, I had to finish with my…father and his mistress. But I'd have to cut back on the presents. They were getting far too suspicious.

I walked towards the front entrance, entranced in my thoughts, when I noticed a small, dark-haired woman pass by me and enter the Great Hall. Her. Here. How could I have _forgotten_? I looked through the doors to the hall to see her stride up the house tables to take her place next to Snape's seat at the head table. I wondered what father would think of _that_. I smiled. The woman was probably cheating on him all the time, probably with every man at the school. And he just stayed home like a house-elf and took care of all of her brats. He deserved whatever he got. And so did she.


	5. Relative Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter title for this one comes from Foodie. We were discussing how Teecie would respond to what Draco's planning, and she said that Teecie would never just let a 'relative stranger' take her from her folks. I couldn't resist.

_Relative Stranger_

When I returned to my flat, I made new plans. I had wanted to wait a few more years, until I had managed to approach all the girls. But there was no time left. I'd have to speed things up. Teecie was still too young, so I'd simply have to make do with whatever small contact I could make with her now. Whatever I accomplished would have to be it. By Christmas, I and the girls would disappear. And father would be alone. Just like he left me.

Reni was less than pleased with the present I brought her that year. After the gorgeous cloak, she had expected something even more exciting this year. But I couldn't risk it, so instead I gave her another of the trinkets that Lucius had given me. This time it was a small dragon that was animated. It immediately jumped to her shoulder when she opened the package, then curled around her neck. She liked it, but I knew that it wasn't as big or as flashy as she had been hoping. She obviously wanted something that would outdo her sister's broom.

Time passed quickly that year. I visited with Reni infrequently, not wanting to set up any pattern that Lucius or Snape would recognize, so I had to make sure never to visit on the same days of the week, and never more than once a week.

I visited with Kali even more infrequently. She was still unsure about me, but now she knew me at least. And though it wasn't as exciting as the broom I had given her the year before, she seemed to quite enjoy the small stuffed snitch that I gave her for her birthday in August.

After Kali's birthday, I began to work on Reni once more. I had to get all the girls out of the house at the same time, so that I could take them. She was even less pleased by the idea of introducing me to Teecie than she had been the idea of introducing me to Kali. But I persisted. I had to meet the girl at least one time before I could proceed with these plans. It was time. And eventually I managed to convince Reni. As unhappy as it made her.

One gorgeous September day, after the girls had begun their schooling with Lucius again, Reni appeared at the top of the hill once more. I couldn't help but think to myself that I might have to do what I had done with Kali, and threaten to stop coming until she brought Teecie with her, when I noticed a small figure appear from behind her. Reni glared down at the toddler, and I heard her tell the girl to "Hurry up, already, brat!" I smiled. Perfect.

I hurried to meet them, and when Teecie saw me, she looked up at me with huge eyes. At first I worried that the girl was scared of me, so I knelt down to make myself less imposing. And was soon to be quite disabused that my youngest sister would ever be scared of _anything._ She approached me cautiously, then reached out a hand and pulled at my hair. "Daddy hair!"

Reni crossed her arms. "Yeah, Teecie, he's got hair like daddy's."

God, how had I not realized how strong a child's grip was? My eyes watered as I carefully disentangled Teecie's chubby fist from my hair, then stood up to get the target out of her reach. "Hello, Teecie. Nice to meet you."

Teecie frowned up at me. "Down," she told me, stamping her foot.

"No, I think I'll stand, thank you." That was a mistake. Teecie's shriek was loud enough to be heard back at my flat, many miles away. I hid behind the tree, worried that Lucius would appear. After several minutes, he had not, so I returned to talk to the girls once more. Reni was now holding Teecie, who was still glaring at me.

"Dragon, we need to go in soon."

"Right. Well, it was nice to meet you, Teecie." The child looked away from me, and I was horrified by how much this annoyed me. I was supposed to capture their hearts, not vice-versa. I turned to Reni. "I'll come back as soon as I can, Reni." She nodded unhappily, then turned to go back down the hill.

Now that I had met all the girls, it was time to work on the second half of my plan. I went off to the place I had planned to go once I had the girls with me. I was startled that most of the paintings were still on the walls, and all of the furniture was still in place. I stocked up on food, blankets, and started a warming spell. The place had not been used in many years, and so I also needed to cast a few cleaning spells. I wasn't about to be surrounded by filth while I waited for Lucius to arrive.

Once that was finished, I returned to my flat and prepared the things I would need to carry out my plan. I pulled out four of my pawns from that lovely chess set that Lucius had promised to use with me. Three silver pawns, and one gold. I wondered how long it would take him to recognize them.

The next step involved bringing Reni in on my plans a bit. I sounded her out about Lucius, as I knew that she was often annoyed with him. I asked if she had ever wanted to get back at him, or perhaps run away. The answer was a resounding yes. I asked if she would like to come and stay with me for a while, and that made her even more pleased.

But she was less pleased when she learned that I wanted her to bring her sisters with her. "Why?" she wanted to know.

"Don't you want to really make him suffer? If all of you go, he'll have to come get you all."

"But then I won't know if he's coming because he wants me back!" she pouted.

"But he'll definitely suffer. Isn't that what's important?"

"I guess." She thought for a moment, then looked at me, a particularly Slytherin glint in her eye. "So, what do I need to do?"

I explained to her what I would need her to do. But I made it plain that we had to do this at just the right time. Before her mother returned for Christmas break, but late enough in the year that Lucius would be easily distracted by the coming holidays. She agreed, then returned home.

After that, time seemed to drag. Reni and I visited a few more times, but no long visits. I was too nervous. Now that my plans were approaching fruition, I didn't want to risk Lucius seeing me. I began to leave Reni notes stuck to the tree. I would watch her read them, then look up and smile in my general direction, then return home.

I also went for a final visit with my mother. I had no idea how things would end up, and I wanted to be sure she was well taken care of. There had been no further messages from Snape, but knowing him, I knew better than to let down my guard. He and Lucius had trained me well.

Finally it was December. Reni and I had planned everything for the first Monday of the month, to be sure that woman was out of the way, and that Lucius would most likely be overloaded with holiday plans and presents. I had told Reni to use three of the soldiers I had given her, and put one on each of their pillows. I wondered what Lucius would make of them. She was to grab the bag that I had told her to prepare before hand; a few clothes for each of them. Then she was to bring her sisters up to the hill. Once I saw the girls were there, I would place the pawns on the welcome mat, lead the girls to my car, and we would be on our way. And there would be nothing he could do to stop us.

I wondered, as I waited for the girls to appear, how long it would take for Lucius to track us down. I hoped he would suffer. Immeasurably. The way I had been suffering for years.

I watched as Lucius exited the house and moved away from me, towards the barn, a pale swinging from his hand. When I saw the girls exit the house, my heart sped up. It was working. I could do this. I got out of my car, and walked slowly to the front door. The pawns were in my pocket, and they felt heavier with every step. I held my breath as I made it to the porch and placed the pawns on the mat, then turned swiftly and made my way to where the girls stood.

Reni and Kali seemed happy to see me, but Teecie clung to her older sister, and glared at me. I smiled at her, but she hid her face. I reached out for Kali's hand. "Come on." I proceeded to walk down the hill, then noticed that Reni was not following. I turned back to see her struggling with Teecie. Teecie was tugging at her sister's hand, and trying to head back towards the house. Damn. I dropped Kali's hand and hurried back to Reni's side. "Get Kali to my car. I'll deal with Teecie."

Teecie's eyes went round as her sister disappeared, and before I could do anything, that horrifying shriek rang out again. I grabbed her hand, then quickly cast a silencing spell to head off another shriek. She tried to scream again, but no sound came from her, and her eyes narrowed at me dangerously. Take that, you brat, I thought. But too soon, I discovered that she was far from without other weapons. To be specific, claws and teeth. I ended up wrapping her in my cloak and hurrying to my car. I shoved her into the back seat, told Reni to buckle her up, then started the car.

It had been worth it, I told myself as I rubbed a long scratch on my arm. I had succeeded. And Lucius would pay. I hoped the woman would kill him when she discovered the children were missing.


	6. Entracte

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter breaks voice from the rest of the story. It will be told in third person. The next chapter will go back to Draco and the girls, but I wanted everyone to see exactly how the kidnapping affected the other adults in the girls' lives.
> 
> The title for this one is a play term, I believe. It is an old term referring to the part in between two acts, and basically, it's a French term meaning "intermission."

_Entracte_

It was dusk when Lucius realized that the girls had yet to come in. At least Adriana wasn't home to chide him about it. Of course, there were plenty of things for Adriana to chide him about. After all, Lucius had plenty to feel guilty about. Particularly, keeping the fact that Draco might have been stalking their family from her.

But at least there had been no new sign of Draco for months. Perhaps it _had_ been a fluke; just pure chance that had brought two horrifyingly familiar objects to his girls on their birthdays. Surely Draco had no knowledge of his sisters' existence, did he? And what would Adriana do when she discovered this secret that he and Snape had been keeping from her?

At least now he knew that the girls were safe. Whatever had been going on, whether Draco had been planning it or not, nothing had happened in months. Whoever it was must have just been playing with him. But who else could it have been? The few surviving Death Eaters had gone into hiding, or been sent to Azkaban. They had no way to find him. No one even knew where he was, aside from Snape, and he wouldn't have done that to Adriana. Lucius, perhaps, but not Adriana. No, the only person who had any chance of truly finding him was Draco.

He sighed, pulled on his coat, and went out to find the girls.

It was fifteen minutes, before he could admit to himself that they were gone. Fifteen agonizing minutes calling the girls' names, searching the orchard, the barn and the far side of the little hill near the house, Lucius's dread growing with every passing second. Damn Renata and her willful ways. If she'd led her sisters into the woods…But he couldn't let himself truly panic yet. There were still several places the girls could be hiding. He just had to find them.

He hurried back to the front porch so he could go inside and retrieve a torch and was about to step inside when he saw something glint on the doormat. Bending down carefully, he picked up the four small objects laying there. Glinting in his palm lay four chess pawns. One in shining gold, and the other three bright silver. His heart fell to somewhere around his knees as he recognized them. And their significance. "Please…no…" he moaned. It couldn't be. He hurried into the house, leaving the front door open in his haste to run to his daughters' rooms. On each pillow he saw the small figures of three very familiar, identical soldiers. Soldiers that _he_ had given Draco so many years ago.

Draco…had his girls. Lucius collapsed under the emotions that closed in around him, standing in the doorway of his youngest child's room. He hated him. He'd tear the boy limb from limb. _But_ , another part of him said, _this is_ Draco. _Your son._ And then worry. Adriana. When she found out. _She'd_ kill the boy. Or Lucius himself. Snape had been helpful before, but there was no way that they'd be able to keep this from her.

Lucius closed his eyes. Yet another mistake. And now his girls would pay because of it. Little Teecie, her bright smile, and constant chattering. Kali, his little Quidditch player, never more at home than when she was on her broom. And Reni. His little trouble-maker. She had obviously helped her brother. Had he told her who he was? And then another child appeared in his memory. Pale skin, light golden hair, eyes wide and turned up to look into his father's face as he chatted away about something. Draco…so much time lost.

He had thought when Draco had changed his name to Black, that leaving it alone would help draw away some of his son's anger. That perhaps, given time, the boy would become more…approachable. But the letters he had sent to Draco had gone unanswered. He wondered if he had even read them, or simply burned them, still in their envelopes. He realized that he hadn't even seen his son since his fifth year at Hogwarts. So long ago. It had been the year from hell for Lucius. But that was no excuse. He should have tried to visit him. At least once. Given the boy a chance to rage at him. Something. Anything.

He paled at the thought of what Draco might do to the girls to get even with him. He wouldn't…hurt them, would he? They were still his sisters. It was Lucius he was angry at. But he knew exactly what Draco was capable of. After all, he'd taught the boy the spells himself. Used first on insects, then small animals…It wouldn't take much for him to transfer his anger to his sisters. Just the thought that Draco might use the spells Lucius had taught him on Lucius's own daughters…He could just imagine the girls' cries of pain, and twisted faces as Draco stood above them, his eyes glowing with hate. Lucius choked back a sob.

Lucius dragged himself up, using the door frame to steady himself. He knew there was no time to spare. He had to find the boy, and get to him before Draco did anything drastic. And he knew who he had to call for help. Snape. Snape cared about the boy almost as much as he did himself, and had far more resources than Lucius did these days. Not to mention the fact that Draco had always looked up to the man. He'd probably have a better chance of talking Draco out of whatever it was he was doing. Of course, knowing Snape, he'd ask for his firstborn in return. Lucius winced at the automatic thought when it finally registered.

And maybe, if Lucius was particularly lucky, Snape would even be willing to be the one to tell Adriana. He'd certainly have a better chance of keeping her from searching Draco out and murdering him on the spot.

Lucius wrapped his coat tighter around him, slipped the pawns into his pocket, picked up his cane, then closed the door to the house, locking it behind him. Then he walked down to the street, and apparated to Hogsmeade.

Severus was just entering the Great Hall for dinner when he was accosted by a small owl. Snarling, he caught the owl in his hand and stepped out into the entranceway to read the message, letting go of the owl as he did so.

 _Snape,_

 _That thing we were concerned with has happened. The girls are with him. I need to speak with you. She cannot know. Meet me at your office._

 _L._

Severus went utterly still. Draco. Damn that boy! Why did _everything_ have to be about him? Of course, Lucius was just as much to blame for it. If Draco hurt any of those girls, Severus would help Adriana murder Lucius in his sleep.

Severus turned on his heel and walked quickly to his office. Lucius was waiting there for him. He snarled at the man, but knowing that yelling at him in the hallway would only attract attention, he muttered "Hellibore" to the gargoyle blocking their way and led the man up to his office. Once the door was closed behind them, he cast a silencing spell on the door and turned to look at Lucius.

He was quite unable to keep the growl from his voice. "How long?"

"Early afternoon sometime. They went out to play and I haven't seen them since."

"Idiot! How could you let them go out unattended together? You knew Draco was up to something! Why weren't you watching them?"

Lucius slumped onto the couch across from Severus's desk and closed his eyes for a moment. Severus watched unsympathetically as the man shook slightly. The man's voice wavered when he spoke. "I…wanted to believe that Draco couldn't do it. And there hadn't been anything new since you'd told me you talked to him. I thought he was gone."

"You know you brought this on those girls, don't you?" Severus snarled. "Couldn't be bothered to approach your son? Or were you just so worried for your safety that you didn't want to leave Adriana's farm?"

Lucius uncurled from the couch, and began to pace. "God, Snape, don't you think I know how stupid I've been? It _is_ my fault. That's why I'm here." He turned to Severus once more. The plea in his eyes was plain. "I need your help to find them. Please, Severus. Help me find my children. All of them."

Severus was taken aback. This was nothing like the Lucius Malfoy he thought he knew. He had seen Lucius broken, but even then he had _never_ heard Lucius Malfoy beg. They were far from friends, but they were connected…by those children. All four of them. And Severus didn't want Draco hurt any more than he wanted those girls hurt. He sighed. "Of course I'll help you, Lucius." He walked to the fireplace, grabbed a handful of floo powder, and began pulling in every favour he could think of.

After he finished with his last contact, Severus turned back to Lucius, who had returned to his seat and was once more hunched over his hands. "Where do you think he would go, Lucius? You must have some idea."

Lucius didn't move for a moment. His head was held in his hands, and Snape could see his shoulders shudder. Severus could barely hear his voice when he finally responded. "I don't know."

"Damn, it, Lucius, think! He's your son. Where would you go if you had done this? Where does he feel safe? Or don't you even know that?" Severus sneered at the weeping man.

"No, you miserable sycophant." Lucius looked up at Severus, a glare on his face. "I don't. Does that please you? I have _no_ idea where my only son would hide from me."

Severus bit back his immediate response. As much as he hated the man, taunting him about Draco would only make things worse. "We need to make a list, Lucius. Where do you think he _might_ go? Any place you can think of. The faster we can come up with a list, the faster we can find them."

"I don't know…I'd say Malfoy Manor, but that hasn't been used since Voldemort deserted it. And I doubt he'd take the girls to his mother." Lucius suddenly looked up at Severus. "You don't think she's in on this, do you?"

Severus pursed his lips. "No. She may not like you, but I think she's much happier simply not thinking about you. And it was obvious to me when I visited her home that Draco hadn't been there in months."

They spent several minutes passing ideas back and forth, including the possibility that they might be hidden somewhere on the Hogwarts grounds, and were about to decide where to look first when a knock came at the door. "Sev? Are you in there?"

Lucius looked up in a panic. "Adriana!"

Severus drew himself up. They'd have to tell her sooner or later, after all. "Go upstairs. I'll give her some tea with a calming draught. Then you will tell her." Lucius stood, but looking panicked and uncertain. "Go!" Lucius moved towards the stairs, limping quickly, and soon the man had disappeared from sight. Severus moved towards the door and opened it. "Adriana. What a pleasure. Would you like some tea?"

Adriana blinked for a moment. "Are you all right, Sev? You didn't show up to dinner."

Severus smoothed his face into a smile. "An important message arrived, and I needed to attend to it. Please, come in, sit down. Let me get us some tea, and I can tell you about it."

Adriana cursed for the fiftieth time since she'd entered the office. Damn both of them! She should have known something was up. How could she have been so stupid? And the tea should have been a big clue. She was usually the one to suggest tea, not Sev. She should have known it was an ambush. Maybe Alastor was right. Maybe it was better to carry your own drink with you everywhere. She thought she could trust Severus! He'd pay for that. If she didn't kill him first.

And Lucius. Lucius would be lucky if she let him die slowly. How could he allow this to happen?

She and Sev had been chatting about how well her classes had been going when she felt an odd feeling come over her. She had sighed, and Sev had looked at her oddly, calculatingly. "Adriana?"

"Yes, Sev?" she smiled. She knew something was wrong, but she couldn't bring herself to care about it.

"How are you feeling?"

She took a deep breath. "Wonderful. So…relaxed."

And that was when Lucius had appeared. It should have worried her that she hadn't felt more alarmed or surprised. Instead, she simply grinned. "Lucius. What are you doing here?" she grinned up at him.

He sat beside her, and if she had been in a fit state of mind, she would have immediately been concerned. But Sev had seen to that. And so she had remained calm through the revelation that Lucius's son had been stalking them…for years. That he had taken their children, and that the two men had no idea even where to _start_ to look.

Deep inside, she began to scream, but for some reason, she was able to do no more than look slightly concerned. "What will you do?"

Sev took over at this point. "We've come up with a list of places to start looking, but we'd really like it if you would stay here while we look, Adriana, all right?"

She wanted to scream at them, pull out their innards through their noses, but what came out of her mouth was, "Of course, Severus."

Sev smiled, sadly. "I'll lock the door behind us, and we'll keep you notified by the fire. If you need anything, just call for the house-elves. They have their own ways to get up here." With that, they departed.

When the potion Sev had dosed her with had finally worn off, she had tried desperately to leave the room. But upon putting her hand on the doorknob, her hand was shocked, and when she managed to hold it long enough to turn it, she was shoved back into the centre of the room. How dare he restrain her? Surely what she'd promised under a potion couldn't count as binding? But, apparently it could. She did everything she could to get through the door before collapsing in tears in the middle of the room after once again being pushed there by the door.

So now, she paced. And waited. And both in her head, and out loud, she screamed. Her girls. How could Lucius do this? How could he be so reckless with their daughters' lives? But why should that surprise her? Hadn't she seen how he'd treated his precious son? No, this was her own fault. She should have known the boy was dangerous. That he wouldn't let go. She should never have started working here, so far from her girls.

Damn the selfish brat anyway! If he hurt her girls, he'd pay dearly. She'd take Argus's chains, and string him up by them, first from his ankles, so she could slap him repeatedly, shred his skin with her nails, perhaps even claw his eyes out. Then she'd hang him up by his thumbs. Watch him twist and shriek with each pull she gave to his ankles. She'd make the boy suffer. And make sure he'd be unable to continue the line that his father never should have started.

Every so often, she would storm through the room, throwing spells that smashed into the delicate beakers and tubes that made up Severus's potions equipment. Then she would collapse into a chair and weep. After several hours of pacing, destruction and despair, she heard a calm, quiet voice call out from behind Severus's chair.

"Adriana. Please calm down. You know they'll find him. And the girls will be fine. Draco may be angry, but he's nothing like what his father was at his worst. He just wants to make his father pay."

She stood and walked to the portrait behind the chair. "And how, exactly, do you know that, Albus?"

Her old friend's eyes twinkled as always as he answered. "I spent seven years with the boy, Adriana. He's a good lad, just sad. You know what Lucius was like. Can you imagine what the boy's life must have been like?"

Adriana's face clouded. "I don't care! That doesn't give him permission to hurt my girls!"

"We don't know he will hurt them, Adriana. Who knows what the boy is thinking. I think this is more about Draco and his father than it is about your girls. The girls were just his way of getting Lucius's attention."

"So, why didn't he just abduct the idiot himself, instead of taking my girls?"

"I don't know, Adriana. But I honestly think that the girls will be fine."

"You can't know that! Would you be so calm if they were your own children, Albus?" she hissed. He shook his head sadly, and she was unable to contain her rage further. She tore the portrait of the former headmaster from the wall, flung it away from her, and began another whirling dervish of destructive spells aimed randomly around the room. When she could find nothing else to aim at, she collapsed on Severus's chair, tears pouring down her face as she wept. Soon the sobs quieted as the weight of her anger, pain and sadness collided with the loss of energy from casting so many destructive spells, and she fell into a restless sleep.


	7. Bedtime Stories

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had a lot of help with this chapter from Foodie. Most of the things the girls say during the second half of this chapter were written by Foodie. Kudos, Foodie, for being such a great writing partner. :D

_Bedtime Stories_

Teecie had cried the entire ride. By the time my car pulled into the drive, I was about ready to scream. I slammed out of the car, and looked up at the building in front of me. It saddened me how bad the place looked. But it had enough space for us to hide out, even if Lucius were to come here.

I opened the door and picked up Teecie, who was whimpering as she looked up at the imposing structure in front of them. Reni got out of the car and opened Kali's door, then pulled her out when she did not immediately get out. I led the way up the steps to the front door, which squealed horribly when I opened it. As we entered the echoing hall, Teecie hid her head in my shoulder, and I looked behind to see Reni trying to be nonchalant while Kali looked around her with huge eyes.

The hall was dim, so I told Reni to follow carefully. The place had been deserted for quite a long time, and there was no knowing what floorboards might give way under foot. It took them a while to reach the staircase, and they set off upstairs, and I was a bit more relieved, as I knew from my earlier foray here that the upstairs was less destroyed than the main floor. I led them down long, winding halls to the room I had prepared for them.

I had brought in pads and sleeping bags, as I was uncertain how long they would need to stay here, and there were several containers of water, along with some dry goods. And I could apparate to the nearest town quickly to get perishables for meals. We were all set. And since we'd eaten in the car on the way here, so I was hoping the girls would just nod off to sleep. I was exhausted, and I needed the sleep myself.

I placed Teecie on one of the unrolled sleeping bags, and told Reni to watch her sisters while I moved the car. She nodded, and the three girls huddled together on the sleeping bag, Reni with Teecie in her lap, and Kali cuddled up to her side.

I hurried to stow the car behind one of the old buildings, then headed back inside. When I returned to the room, both Teecie and Kali were asleep, one from crying, and the other from over-exhaustion. I helped Reni put them in their own sleeping bags, then showed her where the facilities were. "What about Teecie?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Are there any nappies?"

"She's not potty trained yet?" This was something I hadn't considered. Damn. Now what would I do? I finally found an old pile of sheets in a nearby room and transfigured them into nappies. Once the girls were awake again, I'd pop over to the town and buy a package.

I left Reni with cups in case her sisters needed water during the night, and told her that I was in the next room over if she needed anything, then left the room with a gratified sigh. We were here. We were safe, and Lucius would _never_ think to look here.

Opening the door to the next room, I could feel myself relaxing. This was where I wanted to be. Just looking at the bed, clean and fresh, waiting for me to fall into it, I became drowsy. I promised himself that I'd sleep at least eight hours before I started out to get food and other provisions for the day.

I didn't last two.

I had definitely been dosing when I heard the door to the room open, and a voice whisper, "Dragon?"

I groaned and rolled onto my back, looking up at the dark canopy above me. "What, Reni?"

"Teecie woke up and can't get back to sleep."

And what, exactly, was I supposed to do about that, I wondered. "Bring her here."

I could hear Reni struggle with the girl, and several muffled no's from Teecie, and whispered threats from Reni before I felt the girls crawl up onto the bed. "What's wrong, Teecie?" I grumbled.

I felt her shake her head. "Reni?" I asked.

"She misses daddy. She didn't get her bedtime story tonight," she sneered.

Teecie sniffled at this.

I sighed. "Would it help if I told you a story, Teecie?"

"Daddy story," she responded.

"What does that mean? Yes, or no?"

"It means she wants daddy to tell the story. Daddy's not here right now, Teecie."

An idea sprouted then in my head. "No, daddy's busy, sweetie. But he told me that I should tell you your story, okay?"

Reni was getting up to leave when the door to the room opened again. "Reni?"

"Right here, Kali." Feet pattered across the floor, and I felt another body climb onto the bed. Reni sighed. "Well, since we're all in here, I might as well stay now…"

The girls settled down around me, and I wracked my memory, trying to think of a good story. Finally, an idea struck me, and I began.

"Once there was a little boy whose daddy was very mean. And he lived all by himself with his father and mother in a big, empty house..."

Reni was quick to interrupt. "What was the boy's name?"

Damn. I hadn't thought about that. Well, go with what was easiest. "Dragon."

Teecie piped in. "Dorco!"

I ignored this, but wondered what Reni was making of the name. I'd have to tell them sooner or later, and Reni would be most likely the first of the three to catch on. I took a deep breath and continued. "Dragon...Was very sad. He was lonely. And his daddy never played with him."

This time it was Kali who interrupted. "Why not?"

"Because Dragon's father was very important, and didn't have time for little boys. And then one day, his daddy went away."

Reni spoke again. "Where'd he go?"

"Well, the little boy didn't know."

Kali was quick to ask, "Why?"

"No one told the little boy where he had gone."

"Why?" Kali asked again.

I sighed, and put on my best sad voice. "Because they didn't think the little boy needed to know."

I should have known it was going too well. Unfortunately, Teecie took that opportunity to interrupt again. "I hungy."

I stifled my annoyance. She was only two, after all. "Teecie, we had dinner in the car just a few hours ago. You can't be hungry again," I told her calmly. Unfortunately, this was the wrong tact.

Teecie let out a howl, then screamed, nearly in my ear, "I hungy!"

Grumbling, I got up, lit my wand, and moved to the provisions I had stocked here, grabbed a granola bar, and stumbled back to the bed. I could tell this would be a long night. I tossed the bar to Teecie, then settled myself down again. "There. Eat that."

But Teecie still hadn't had the last word. "Dorco."

I sighed. "Yes, Teecie?"

The little brat had the nerve to blow a raspberry at me, then look away as though I didn't even matter.

I snorted, said, "Nox," then continued with my story. "So, where was I?"

Reni responded. "Dragon's father had disappeared."

"Right. And the little boy and his mother had to leave their home."

"Why?" Reni asked.

I stiffened as the memory washed over me. Leaving the manor… "Because the father had been bad, and all the family's money had been taken away."

"Where did it go?" Kali wanted to know.

I raised my chin, still burning with the anger at Lucius. "The Ministry took it," I sneered. "And the little boy never saw his father again."

"What did they do with the money?" Kali wanted to know.

"I don't know." It was the only answer I could give.

There was silence for several minutes, then Reni spoke. "Was that supposed to be a fun bedtime story?"

I managed to keep from growling, but only barely. "It's supposed to be a bedtime story. Now, that's it. Go to sleep."

Then Teecie piped up again. "No tired, Dorco." And even worse, at that point she decided that it was time to play. She stood up and began to jump on the bed. For several moments, I contemplated using a sleeping spell on her, but I doubted that Reni or Kali would take that well. I tried desperately to keep calm. Especially when she jumped off the bed. "Teecie..."

At that point, she began to yell. "No tired, no tired" over and over again, until I thought I would go mad.

I pulled out my wand again, aimed at where the sounds were coming from and cast a spell. "Silencio." Her sisters could hate me all they wanted, but I desperately needed sleep. "Go to bed, girls. Now." I felt Kali leave the bed, and assumed that she was trying to find Teecie in the dark, so I lit my wand again. I sighed. "Look, it's really late. I just need a few hours sleep, and then we can do whatever you all want, okay?"

Kali's eyes were luminous with tears as she looked up at me. "Go home?"

That stopped me. I didn't want to scare these girls. I just wanted to help them. Surely they could see that I wasn't a bad guy… "Why do you want to go home?" I finally asked her.

Kali put her arms around Teecie, "I want daddy too."

Damn the man. Did he have to inspire such loyalty in his children? I wondered just how annoying I had been as a child, constantly talking about him like he were some kind of god… Unfortunately, the anger showed through in my next words. "Well, daddy's busy," I snapped. "You wouldn't want to bother him, would you?"

Unfortunately, this deterred Kali not at all. "Then mummy," she replied.

I gritted my teeth. "Your mummy's busy too," the slut, I thought to myself. She was probably spreading her legs for one of the men up at the school at this very moment.

Kali raised her chin to look at me. "Not too busy for us," she responded.

I couldn't keep the chill from my voice when I responded. "Well, right now she is."

But now Kali seemed more confident. "And neither's daddy."

I grinned, but I doubt it was more than a baring of teeth. "Yep, they had something more important to do than to be home dealing with you three. That's why I'm taking care of you all. They wanted me to take care of you until they're ready to deal with you all again."

Kali crossed her arms and looked at me, disbelieving. "Daddy never told us about you"

I sneered. "Yeah? Well, I was his "little secret"

"We don't like you, we want to go home"

I sighed. Time to defuse the situation. I looked at Reni, who was still sitting on the bed across from me. "Reni, do you want to go home?"

She grinned. "Nah"

Then I turned back to Kali. "And Kali, I brought my Speedline 820. I thought you might like to try it out." True generosity on my part. I hadn't even ridden the broom myself. "Because I know how much you like to fly…"

But, no dice. "I only like flying with daddy."

"I could fly with you," I wheedled. God, what had I reduced myself to?

"No."

"Not even to the village and back?"

"No."

I sighed, as though I were horribly disappointed. "Well, you let me know if you change your mind, okay?"

"I won't."

I sighed, truly annoyed, but unwilling to take my anger out on these children. "Fine, as long as you let me get some sleep, we can discuss everything in the morning, okay?"

Kali bit her lip, nodded, then turned to Teecie, grabbed her hand, walked across the room, and fumbled for the doorknob. I hoped they were simply returning to the other room, but at this point, I was too tired to care. The other rooms had been charmed to go off if anyone entered them, and the front door was locked, so there would be no getting out. Not without my help, anyway.

I turned to Reni, waiting for her to start asking me the questions I knew must be swimming in her head, but she simply crawled up next to me, slithered under the blankets, and fell right to sleep. Kids. I put out my wand, then turned over, exhausted, and fell asleep.


	8. Bribing Teecie

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I thought I'd let people know, just in case you're getting nervous, there will be no character death, or rape, or incest in this fic. The R rating is for dark thoughts and memories, and for a fight that will happen later in the story.

_Bribing Teecie_

The next morning, I got out of bed, careful not to wake Reni. I cast a quick cleansing spell on myself. Not enough, but the water in the place was long gone, and it was better than nothing. I wrote out a little note telling Reni that I would only be gone for a short time, and would be back with food soon, and to keep an eye on her sisters. I pulled on my coat and apparated to the nearby village. I went to the market and got things that I would be able to heat with magic, then went to the town diner and ordered four hot breakfasts.

When I returned, the place was bedlam. Clothes were scattered everywhere, all three sleeping bags had been left laying in the middle of the room, and wrappers from one of the granola bar boxes were strewn across the room. The three girls were facing each other, all red-faced. Teecie was screaming at the top of her lungs, Kali was in tears, and Reni looked as though she were ready to strangle both of them.

"What in all hells is going on here?" I growled. All three girls froze, then slowly turned to look at me. Kali was gasping, trying to get back her breath, tears still streaming down her face, and Teecie looked mulish.

Reni crossed her arms and glared at her sisters a final time before smiling up at me. "They were trying to leave, Dragon."

I took a deep breath. Calm. I had to be calm. I placed the bags on the floor and decided to distract myself. I transfigured some old, ragged furniture that still filled one corner of the room into a small table and child-sized chairs. "Look, it's still early. Why don't we eat breakfast, then we can discuss this, all right?" I said as I worked.

"No hungy, Dorco! Go home! Now!" Teecie shrieked.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere until I've eaten, so you might as well eat too, because you won't get far without me." I placed the styrofoam containers on the little table, and Reni was quick to move to one and begin wolfing it down.

Kali looked at the food and made a face. "I don't like eggs."

"So don't eat them. There are hash browns, too. Eat them. And the bacon." I dug into my own food. I'd never realized exactly how tiring it was to deal with children. Reni wasn't so bad, but if Teecie shrieked at me one more time.

As if on cue, Teecie began to shriek. "Wanna go home! Wanna go home!"

"Ticia Enora Malfoy, stop that right now!" All three girls looked at me, eyes wide. I shifted uneasily in my chair. What had I said? I hadn't threatened the child, but they were all looking at me as though I'd threatened her with an unforgivable curse.

"How'd you know that name, Dragon?" Reni asked me slowly.

I knew I'd have to tread carefully here. "Which name would that be, Reni? You told me your sister's names, remember?"

"I told you their names, .why do you think her last name is Malfoy?"

I paled. Had I been mistaken? Could they possibly be someone else's children? Maybe Lucius was just staying with the woman? But why did they seem sweet together? "Isn't your father's last name Malfoy?"

"Yes, but it's not ours. How did _you_ know it?" Reni was getting that look. That Slytherin look. She had obviously guessed more than I wanted her to know. I'd have to come up with something good.

"I heard him talking once. Introducing himself to someone. I just assumed." Reni wasn't fooled. "What." I swallowed. "What _is_ your last name?"

"Orendes."

"Ah." Desperate for a way to distract myself, I turned back to my food. After a few minutes, I heard two chairs pull out from the table, and the sounds of eating filled the air.

Once I was finished, I stood and busied myself with tidying the room. The sleeping bags were rolled up, trash disposed of, and a cleansing spell here and there to get rid of cobwebs I'd missed the first time I'd come here. When the girls were done, I disposed of their leftovers as well. The groceries I had frozen with a simple freezing spell before returning here, so they would last for a few days.

The girls watched as I did all this, each with their own expression. Reni looked calculating. She knew too much. I was definitely going to have to deal with that. Kali looked scared. I knew that I'd just need to find a way to calm her down. Prove that I wasn't such a bad guy.I snorted to myself. Just a kidnapper. I sighed. No, Teecie was the _real_ problem. I was definitely going to have to deal with her first.

"Reni. Could I talk to you for a minute?" The girl looked at me appraisingly, then nodded and I led her out into the hall. "I need you to look after Kali for me for a bit. Can you do that?" Would she agree? I held my breath waiting for her response.

Reni smiled, but that smile was far too familiar to me to be reassured by it. It was the smile Lucius used when he had been about to punish me when I was a boy. It was the smile I saw in my own mirror sometimes when I was planning some particularly diabolical plot. "Of course, Dragon. But I want something first."

This Slytherin sister of mine was going to cause me a great deal of trouble. "What?"

"Tell me." I sighed, but nodded for her to go on. "Are we related?"

Should I tell her? I stared at my clever little sister.

"Are brother?" The look on her face was fiercely triumphant.

I let out another breath. "Does it matter?"

"Yes. Do you want my help or not? You can't do it without me. I'm much better with the kids. But if you don't want my help with him, we can just go home..." she shrugged, then smiled. She knew she'd won.

"Who?"

Her smile widened into a grin. "Father. Lucius Malfoy?"

"And what makes you think he has anything to do with this?"

Her eyes flashed, all smiles gone. "Do you really think I'm that stupid? I saw how father looked when he saw the cloak you gave me. And the broom you gave Kali. And I saw how happy you were when I told you how I'd gotten around him. And that story last night? Come on. It looks like you really hate him. And I want to help you." Her face went cold. "He deserves it."

I couldn't help but be pleased. I'd known the girl was agreeable, but obviously Lucius had already started to disappoint her. Looked like he was following his pattern. "Yes, I'm your brother." I knelt down. "You can't tell your sisters, okay? I need to be the one to tell them."

Reni nodded. "Is your name really Dragon?" she whispered.

"That's another question, Reni. I shouldn't answer."

The simpering look she gave me would have put Guilderoy Lockheart to shame. "Please?"

"All right, but I expect your full cooperation with everything, got it?" She nodded. "My name is Draco. It means dragon, though."

"Cool!" She grinned at me, then seemed to collect herself and held out her hand to me. "It is good to meet you, Draco." I shook her hand, shaking my head, but grinning the entire time, and Reni grinned back.

We went back into the girls' room. Time to divide and conquer. "Teecie, could you come with me?"

Teecie ran to Kali's side and grabbed her hand. "No."

Reni moved to their side and kneeled down. "Teecie, sweetie, Dragon just wants to talk to you. He's really nice, I promise."

Teecie shook her head vigorously. "No!" she said, louder this time.

I suppressed an urge to strangle the child and took a deep breath. "Teecie, your daddy wanted me to show you something. Will you let me?" I winced internally at the clichéd line, but it was all I could come up with. And it didn't work. She shook her head again, but there was curiosity in those wide eyes. "Look, I promise that we'll only go into the next room, and if you don't like what I show you, you can come right back here. And if I don't, your sisters will know, because you'll be able to scream for them."

I knew I was beginning to get through, but it was like pulling teeth. I walked over to the grocery bags and pulled out a package. "Look, I bought this for dessert tonight, but maybe you'd all like one now? And then Teecie and I can go talk?" I opened the box and held out a Twinkie to each of the girls. Reni grinned, and Teecie was quick to snatch hers from me, but Kali was much more cautious than her sisters. "It's not poisoned, Kali. Promise. I just thought you'd like a treat." She took it cautiously from my hand, and began to examine it. When she had finally decided it was safe, she unwrapped it, and began to eat it, in very small nibbles.

By this time, Teecie had finished hers. "'Nother, Dorko!"

I took another Twinkie from the box. "All right, but you need to come with me and eat it over there, okay?"

She looked at me appraisingly for a moment, then nodded and trotted to the door, not waiting for me to take her hand. I shook my head, then shot a warning look at Reni, turned, opened the door, and led Teecie from the room.

Once we entered my room, Teecie scurried over to the bed and clambered up onto it. "Tinky!"

"Yes, here you go." I handed her the cake, and she quickly devoured it, making a huge mess. I sighed. At least that would be easily cleaned up. I cast a cleansing spell, and she giggled as the mess disappeared.

"Tickles!"

"Yep." I sat next to her on the bed, and she scooted away, her eyes getting big again. "Teecie, I'm not going to hurt you. I just want to help you."

"You bad."

"No, Teecie, I'm not."

"Hurt me!"

"Did I? I didn't mean to. Where did I hurt you? Will you show me? I could make it better."

She held out her arm and I could see a bruise there. "I'm sorry, Teecie. We were just in such a rush. I had no idea." She looked at me accusingly, but said nothing. "Here." I cast a simple healing charm, and the bruise began to fade from purple to green, and then to a darkened beige. "There, see? It'll be completely gone by the time you see your sisters again."

She looked at her arm, then up at me. "Magic?"

"Yes."

She grinned shyly. "Like magic."

"Me too." For a moment I wasn't sure how to proceed, then I remembered the story from the night before. "You know, Teecie, I know you like stories, but nobody told me what _kind_ of stories you like."

She grinned. "Arel!"

"Arel? What's that?"

"Arel! Fishies!"

"Arel is a fish?"

"No, silly! Arel mumad!"

"Oh, she's a mermaid?"

She nodded.

"And you like stories about Arel?"

She nodded, more vigorously.

"What does Arel do?"

"She love Erc!"

"She falls in love?"

She nodded again, this time with a smile.

"And what else does she do?"

She looked at me, blankly, then shrugged.

I smiled. "Well, I'm sure I can come up with something for tonight. Do you like anything else? Dragons? Unicorns."

"What unycon?"

I smiled. "A horse with a horn on its forehead. Want to see?"

She nodded, and I cast an image of a unicorn against the wall. Her eyes grew wide, and she looked at me. "Want unycon, Dorco!"

"You want me to tell you a story about a unicorn?"

"No, want unycon!"

I chuckled. "Well, they're pretty big. How about something smaller? A kitty?" She shook her head. "A doggy?" Her nose wrinkled, and she shook her head harder. "What then?"

"Bunny!"

"A bunny? I think I can do that."

"Pink bunny!"

I had to smother the laugh that time. ".bunny. Okay.." I concentrated on the pillow beside Teecie and began to transfigure it. Transfiguring was never my strong point, and going from inanimate to animate was the hardest kind of transfiguration. I only hoped I could do it right. Well, start with shape. The pillow grew distinctly oval, then began to grow long, floppy ears. Okay, now eyes. And a nose. Fur. And then.I concentrated hardest on it breathed. "One more thing," I grinned at Teecie, who was looking at the former pillow with amazement. I directed my wand at the bunny, and soon all of its fur, aside from the tail, was pink.

Teecie grinned, then reached out to pet the bunny. When it hopped towards her, she squealed. She picked it up, then looked shyly up at me. "Tankoo, Dorco."

"I'm glad you like it. Now, it's time for a nap, okay? And then we can go rejoin your sisters and make dinner. Would you like that?" She grinned at me, and actually allowed me to tuck her in. Thank god for small favors.

I watched her settle in, and soon she was fast asleep. She was pretty cute, really. And maybe just a bit too much like me.I chuckled to myself. Well, hopefully tonight would go better. And tomorrow, I could work on Kali. I just hoped that she wouldn't be as difficult as I'd thought Teecie was going to be.


	9. A Little Progress

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: I thought I'd let people know, just in case you're getting nervous, there will be no character death, or rape, or incest in this fic. The R rating is for dark thoughts and memories, and for a fight that will happen later in the story.

_A Little Progress_

I had soon dozed off myself, and woke to Teecie bouncing near me on the bed. I sat up groggily and looked at my watch. It was well after four. Time to start dinner. She picked up her bunny, which I was amazed to see was still breathing and bunny-shaped, despite my shoddy skills. Then she took my hand, and together we walked back to the girl's room. When we entered, Reni and Kali looked up from the dolls they were playing with. I was glad to see that Reni had thought to pack some toys for them all to play with. Kali jumped up and hurried over to Teecie.

"Did he hurt you, Teecie?" she asked, examining Teeice's arms and legs for marks, and looking at me out of the corner of her eye.

Teecie shook her head. "Look, Kali! Bunny!"

By that point, Reni had joined us. "Where'd it come from, Teecie?"

"Dorco gave me!"

Reni looked at me and grinned. "That was nice."

I pulled Teecie to the centre of the room. "Yes, well, it's time to start putting together dinner. I have salad makings and noodles. Could you two clear off the table and put things away while Teecie helps me?"

Reni looked at me oddly. "Did you already change Teecie?"

Oh. I'd forgotten that. "No…could you handle that for me, Reni? The third bag there has nappies and stuff…"

She smirked at me. "Sure, Dragon." She led Teecie off to a corner of the room. I was obviously going to owe her for this… I sighed, and began to pull out stuff for dinner. There was a pre-packaged salad, some noodles—fusilli, my favorite—and some pesto sauce. I conjured a controlled fire, and pulled out a pot that I'd left here, along with utensils and plates when I'd come before.

When the pasta was in the pot, bubbling away, I turned to see Reni leading Teecie back to me. Kali had yet to move. "Thanks, Reni. Teecie, do you want to make the salad?" I figured that there would be little she could do to mess that up. Her face lit up, and she grinned. I handed her the bag, and a bowl to put it in, and she sat on the floor, her face screwed up in concentration, trying desperately to prize open the bag. She tried pulling at the corner with her hand, and when her hand had slipped off the second time, she put the corner in her mouth and pulled. The plastic stretched, but did not give. She sighed in annoyance, then put the bag on the floor and sat on it. It popped open, and lettuce spilled out both ends. I hurried to help clean it up before she could put the now-dirty lettuce in the bowl.

Reni, meanwhile, had taken the dishes and set the table. Kali was sitting and glaring at me now. I ignored her, chatting happily with her sisters as the pasta boiled. When the noodles were cooked, I banished the water, and poured in the sauce. I stirred it a few times, then set it on the table. "Dinner's ready."

Kali didn't move. "Aren't you hungry?" I asked. She shook her head.

Reni put together a plate for Teecie, who looked at the food dubiously. "Not sketti!"

I smiled. "No, it's not spaghetti. But it's like spaghetti. And aren't the noodles funny?"

Teecie looked up at me for a moment, then picked up one of the noodles, covered in sauce. She sniffed at it, then touched it gingerly with her tongue. She looked at me and smiled then. "Nummy!" She popped the noodle in her mouth, then attacked the rest of her plate with gusto.

I turned to look back at Kali. "You should eat something. Look. Teecie likes it."

She wrinkled her nose. "It's green…"

I smiled. "It's called pesto. It's good. Promise."

She shook her head. "Well, at least have some salad."

She looked at me warily, and it was several minutes before she stood, grabbed the empty chair, and pulled it so that she was between her sisters. She took the empty plate and put three leaves of lettuce on it, then proceeded to eat them very slowly.

I closed my eyes. Not a good time to get pissed off. And she had good reason, I reminded myself. After all, she's upset at you, Draco. But at least she was eating _something._

We finished our meal in silence, and I pulled out the box of Twinkies once more. I was gratified to see that Kali ate this, as well.

Kali and Reni cleared the table, and I cleaned everything with a flick of my wand. Then Teecie climbed up onto my lap and began to show me her "dollies."

"…Dis is Arel, Dorco."

"The mermaid?" Teecie nodded.

"But she has feet. Why does she have feet?"

"Usuwa."

"Usuwa?"

Reni had been sitting beside me and looked up. "She means Ursula. She's a witch in the movie. She turns Ariel human."

"Ariel…ah." I thought about this a moment. "So this is a story from a movie?" Reni nodded.

"It's called 'The Little Mermaid.' It's her favourite movie."

"So I see." Teecie had slid off my lap during this conversation, and was now back with an armload of new dolls to show me.

She dumped them all on my lap, and proceeded to tell me each doll's story. When she had finished, my mind was reeling. But there were still a handful more on the floor. I was rather surprised when she ignored them and proceeded to play with the ones she had shown me. "Teecie, what about those over there?" She looked up at me, then at the dolls I was pointing at.

"Dose Kali's."

"Oh." I glanced at Kali, who had stayed as far from me as she could the entire evening, glaring the whole time. "What are their names, Kali?" She simply glared at me, so I stood up and walked over to the dolls. Her eyes were on me the entire time. There were three girl dolls and a boy doll. The boy was entirely plastic, hair to feet, and looked vaguely like Cedric Diggory had, blonde hair and all. The girls each had different colored hair. One had long black hair and Asian features, and I was sharply reminded of Cho Chang and fourth year. I picked up the last two. The first two had obviously been muggle-made, as they were made almost entirely from plastic. But these two…they were obviously wizard made. One had mousy brown hair and a healer's uniform. I put her aside, and focused instead on the other. I wondered if this had been Reni's doll first. She had long, wavy blonde hair and sparkling blue eyes. She wore a green Quidditch uniform, and held a miniature broom. I looked up at Kali.

"Is this your favourite?"

She glared harder, her eyes nearly slits, stomped across the room, and snatched the doll from my hands. "Don't touch her!" She grabbed up the other three dolls and hurried back across the room to get away from me.

So much for trying. I sighed, stood up, and dusted myself off. Oh, well. Time for bed, anyway. I pulled out the sleeping bags and set them up for the girls again. "Come on, getting late. Everyone into bed."

Teecie looked up, and I could see the thought before she spoke. "'Tory, Dorco!"

I nodded. "Once you're all ready for bed."

She grinned, ran to her bag, pulled out her nightshirt and began to change. Reni went over to help her, then took her nightgown into the bathroom to change there. Kali remained on the floor, ignoring me. And I'd thought that Teecie would be the difficult one?

When Reni emerged from the bathroom, she looked at Kali, walked to the bag and pulled out another night shirt, then went to her sister, pulled her up by the hand and pulled her into the bathroom. Well, at least I had help. If I'd had to deal with these two alone… I settled down next to Teecie while we waited for her sisters to come out of the bathroom. When they did, Kali took the bag furthest away from me, while Reni settled on top of the middle sleeping bag. I raised an eyebrow. Did she think she was going to get to sleep on the bed again tonight? She just grinned.

Teecie pulled on my sleeve. "'Tory, Dorco!"

"Yes, yes…So, 'The Little Mermaid,' huh?" She nodded happily, then snuggled down into her sleeping bag. "Once upon a time there was a mermaid named Ariel. And she lived all alone…"

"No, Fownder, and Suddew!"

"What?"

"Flounder and Scuttle. They're her friends."

"Ah, okay. Ariel had two friends, Flounder and Scuttle, and they all spent their days swimming in the water…" I broke off at the girls' laughter. Even Kali was snickering this time. "What?"

"Scuttle's a bird," Reni said between gasps.

I continued the story in this vein for several minutes, being interrupted by either annoyance or laughter in each case. Finally, I'd had enough and let Reni finish telling the story.

"And they got married on a big ship, and everyone was happy. The End."

I sighed. At least that was over. "Okay, so, snuggle in. Time to sleep."

Teecie grinned at me, pulled her bunny, which I could see was now beginning to turn back into a pillow towards her, and dropped off immediately. Reni had already tucked Kali in by the time I turned towards them, and so I said, "You too, Reni."

She shook her head and grinned. "Nope. I want to sleep in the bed again."

I tried to glare at her, but her grin was so wide it was catching, so I raised an eyebrow instead. "And why should I let you?"

"Because I did a lot today. I deserve it."

"Fine, but after tonight, you sleep in here, got it?"

She grinned, then followed me to my bedroom.


	10. The Dissident

_The Dissident_

I woke in the middle of the night to the sound of one of my alarm charms. I quickly shook Reni awake, and pulled her into the next room with me. Had Lucius found me so quick? But that couldn't be right. The alarm that had gone off was on the second floor. How could he have possibly managed to get onto the second floor without setting off any other alarms? I hurried to where Kali and Teecie were sleeping, and discovered only one soundly sleeping child.

Damn it. Leaving Reni to watch over Teecie, I ran from the room in hopes of reaching Kali before she made it to the front door. At least one thing was in my favour. I knew the place better than she did.

I rushed to the stairwell landing, and looked down at the hallway below. Kali had plastered herself against a wall, and was slowly inching her way towards the door. I was going to have to head her off. And I'd have to be especially careful. I didn't want to spook her even more. I crept down the stairs and slowly approached her.

When I reached the hallway, she took one look at me, and began to run. Luckily my legs were longer. I jumped in front of her. "I can't let you leave, Kali. It's not safe out there." She pulled away from me, as though she thought I would hurt her, and pressed her back to the wall.

"Going home."

"You don't want to stay with your sisters?"

"No."

I knelt down, careful not to touch her, which would probably only spook her more. "Kali, I know you don't like me, or trust me, but I won't hurt you. And I can't let you just go outside. You'd get lost. I don't want that to happen to you."

She glared at me. "You don't care!"

"Kali, I know you think that, but it's not true." I wracked my brain for a way to get through to her. "I know you're missing your dad, and flying, probably. Would it help if I promised to let you use my broom tomorrow?"

"By myself." Her arms were crossed protectively in front of her, and that glare was becoming annoyingly familiar.

"Okay. But inside only. I don't want you going too high and hurting yourself. In here I know I can help if something happens, okay?"

"Outside!"

I sighed and rubbed at my face. This was not a conversation I wanted to be having, let alone in the middle of the night with a four-year-old. "Kali, I can't. It's not safe. There are bad people out there, and you might get hurt."

"You're bad people."

"No, I'm a friend of your father's." Yeah, yeah, big lie, but what was I going to say? I'm your father's son, and I want to hurt him through you? "Look, Kali, how does this sound? You get to ride my broom—inside— _and_ you can look through the groceries and choose breakfast and dinner, okay?"

She looked at me for a long time, and I was sure she was going to refuse. Then she nodded once, spun away from me and trotted up the stairs. I followed slowly behind. Sleep. I just needed some sleep. I reached the top of the staircase, reset the charms, and returned to the room to see Kali snuggling down into her sleeping bag, still glaring at me. Reni was sitting in a chair, lightly dosing, but she woke when I closed the door. I set a new charm on the door to the room, then turned to see her standing and stretching.

"You're staying here with your sisters."

"No I'm not."

"Reni…"

"I know how to use the floo network, Dragon…"

I grabbed her arm and pulled her into my room. "Is that a threat, Reni?"

She smirked at me. "What do you think, _brother_?"

"I think between you and your sisters, it's amazing Lucius has hair left on his head! Fine. But no more, all right?"

She crossed her arms and grinned. I stumbled to the bed and was almost asleep before I could crawl under the blankets.

The next morning, Kali chose cereal for breakfast, but she wasn't pleased that there was no sugar or fruit to put in it, and grumbled the entire meal.

After we'd cleaned up, I took Kali back into my room and pulled out my broom. Kali immediately jumped on, and headed for the nearest window. I pulled her back and placed a charm along the windowed wall so that she couldn't go through. She growled at me and tried for the door instead. I cast a cushioning charm along that wall as well. She pulled up when she discovered she couldn't reach the door, and not even looking at me, she headed straight for the ceiling. Was she trying to crash through? But she pulled short just before the end of the broom touched the ceiling and dove for the floor. I padded the floor immediately below her, and she crashed into the charm and fell off the broom.

I helped her up, but she jerked away and jumped back on. Now she aimed for the far wall. Once more I padded the wall, this time not stopping until the entire room was padded. Well, at least she wouldn't be able to fall off the broom and hurt herself. She turned to me, still astride the broom, and glared.

"Kali, I'm not going to let you hurt yourself."

She growled, then zoomed towards me, swerving just before she reached me, and began to fly around the room in circles, picking up speed as she went.

That was it. If I let her continue, she'd find a way to hurt herself, and I really couldn't let that happen. I timed my snatch just as she went past, and pulled her off the broom, which fell with a soft thud on the floor, skidding several feet. Kali, panicked by my grabbing her, turned and began to fight me with everything she had. Nails, teeth, and feet all flew at me.

"Kali, please! Don't make me hurt you!" This had no effect but to make her more frenzied. And then one of her feet connected with my crotch and I went down. She didn't let up, though. Her fists connected with my arms and shoulders, and she kicked at me for good measure, too.

And then her sobs began. "I hate you!" She hit me in the side. "I'm going to make sure you never hurt any of us again!" She kicked at my knee, and it blossomed in pain. "When daddy gets here, I'm going to tell him _everything_ you did!"

I held my tongue while she continued to kick and hit at me, and finally she tired of it. I heard her move to the bed and collapse on it, sobbing. I sat up and examined myself. She'd only gotten in a few good hits, but damn. She was going to be quite the Quidditch player when she grew up. I couldn't wait for her to be the first girl on the Slytherin Quidditch team. I hoped I would be there to see it. I wondered what position she wanted to play. It felt like she'd make a damned good beater.

Maybe talking Quidditch would help? "So, Kali, what position are you going to be on your Quidditch team when you go to Hogwarts?" There was no answer, so I kept on talking. "You know, I was the Seeker for Slytherin. I was a damned good one, too. The only person who ever beat me was Harry Potter." My eyes were closed, and my face tilted towards the ceiling. I didn't want her to think I was trying to lure her towards me. I was, but I didn't want her to know that.

I kept talking. "You know, I started on my house team when I was in second year. That's pretty young. Most people don't get on till third or fourth, or even later." I shifted to try to find a more comfortable position. "But you know what the worst part was?" I opened my eyes, and saw Kali, hugging a pillow, glaring at me, but obviously fascinated. She shook her head. "Everyone decided I'd bought my way onto the team because of my dad."

"So?"

I concealed the smile at the response. "So, even though I won all the other games I played in, aside from ones against Gryffindor, that rumour never went away. Whatever you do, Kali, don't let _anyone_ do that to you, okay?"

"Do what?"

"Let someone do something that makes people think less of you. You're amazing. I could barely stay on my broom by myself at your age. You're going to be a great Chaser or Beater or Seeker someday."

"I'm going to be a Seeker."

I grinned now, not bothering to hide it. "You'll be the best Seeker Hogwarts has ever seen, I'll bet."

She turned away. "I'm hungry. Is it lunchtime yet?"

I glanced at my watch. "Yep. You wait here. I'll go get us some crisps and sandwiches."

I came back with a pop and a bag of crisps for each of us, and a sandwich to share between the two of us. She slurped at her pop and gazed at me appraisingly.

"Why did you bring us here?"

Wow. Sharp kid. I hid my surprise by taking a gulp of my pop, and sat back on the bed so that I didn't have to look directly at her. "I wanted to keep you safe."

"From what? Daddy would never let us get hurt."

"Well, sometimes daddies aren't as able to protect their children as they should be. And sometimes they don't even try."

"But daddy loves us. Why do you need to take us? Aren't there other kids you could protect?"

"Because, Kali. I know your daddy. And I don't want you three to be hurt. So, if I can help, I will. So we're here."

"Daddy could protect us. He loves us. He wouldn't let anyone hurt us. And when he finds out what you did, you'll be in trouble."

I took a deep breath. I was _not_ going to scare her more than she was already scared, but I was starting to be truly annoyed. "Daddy can't protect you from everything. Sometimes daddies are too busy."

"Our daddy's never too busy for us. He says we're his life."

That hurt, but I couldn't let it show. "Well, sometimes daddies lie," her mouth opened, but I cut her off. "Sometimes even when they don't mean to."

"You're the liar," she glared at me.

I took a steadying breath. "What have I lied about, Kali?"

"You said that daddy would hurt us. That he doesn't care about us! Those are lies!"

"Do you know that for sure, Kali? I'm your friend. I just want to help you and your sisters."

"So take us to mummy or uncle Sev then. Just let us go home."

"Kali, I wish I could. But there are bad people everywhere. And the only way I can be sure you're safe is if I take care of you myself."

"So…we're never going to see daddy or mummy again?" her lip began to tremble, and I desperately wanted to hug her.

"Kali, I know what I'm doing upsets you. I wish…I wish I could get you to trust me. To like me. I don't want to hurt you. I want you to be happy."

"I won't be happy if I never see mummy or daddy again!" she flung herself face-first onto the bed and began to sob. Soon the sobs subsided into sleep. I hated myself for this. But I had to do it. It was the only way. If only…

I stood up, covered her carefully with one of the blankets, then lay back down on the far side of the bed, pulled the blankets around myself and fell asleep.


	11. The Outing

_The Outing_

We had hot dogs and soup for dinner that night. They were the only things Kali didn't immediately turn up her nose at. I promised that we would all go to the market the next day, but even this met with a less-than-pleased expression from her. Teecie was quite contented with the hot dogs, though she made quite a mess of the soup. Afterwards, we finished off the rest of the Twinkies, and then the girls settled onto the sleeping bags in their nightgowns.

I made one last-ditch attempt to reach Kali by telling the story of one of my matches with Potter. Teecie was less than enthused and fell asleep halfway through, but I caught Kali getting lost in my story a few times. Maybe she was finally starting to see me in another light? Once my story was finished, I tucked in Teecie as Reni did the same for Kali, then walked to the door. Reni was a step behind me. I glared at her, but she just smiled and stepped past me and hurried to the bed. I shook my head and followed her. This was obviously an argument I wasn't going to win.

For the first night since we had arrived, I slept through the night. Without a shower, I couldn't really feel refreshed, but I felt much better than I had in days, possibly weeks. I shook Reni awake and told her to help her sisters, then got dressed myself. Since we were going into town anyway, I figured we might as well make a day of it. I knew there was a small park the girls would enjoy, that we could go to for a bit after we had breakfast at the diner where I'd gotten us breakfast the first morning we'd been here, and then we could visit the market and find things that Kali would be more willing to eat.

Once all three girls were dressed, we piled into the car, much more calmly than our last time getting into it, and I drove over to the next town. I pulled into the diner's car park, and led the girls to the front door, Teecie holding my hand, and Kali holding Reni's. We were seated quickly, as it was after nine, and a work day, so most people had already come through.

I read the menu to Teecie and Kali, and Teecie was quick to put in her order. "I want pamcakes wif stawbewwys, Dorco."

I nodded. "What do you want, Kali?"

She frowned at me. "There's nothing good on here."

I sighed. "There's nothing there you want?"

"They don't have what I want."

"But is there anything you like?"

She glared at me. "I suppose I could get cottage cheese and fruit."

"That's not very filling, Kali. Is it going to be enough?"

She crossed her arms. "I want cottage cheese and fruit, or I won't eat anything."

"Fine. What about you, Reni?"

"I'm going to get an omelet," she grinned.

"Sounds good." The waitress came by at that moment, and I ordered for Kali and Teecie and eggs benedict for myself, but Reni insisted on ordering her own. She ordered a huge omelet with ham, cheese, mushrooms, spinach and tomatoes. "Are you going to be able to eat that all?" I asked her.

"Of course." She grinned at me and handed the waitress her menu.

I took a deep breath, then looked back at the waitress. "And three glasses of orange juice, please."

The waitress nodded and left, and it took almost no time at all before our breakfast was in front of us. Teecie and Reni dug right in, but Kali looked at hers like she felt it had been poisoned. "Come on, eat up. I want to take you guys to a park I know about before lunch, and then we can go to the store."

She made a face at me, but picked up her spoon and began to nibble at her fruit. I sighed, and focused on my food. Teecie needed help with cutting up her 'pamcakes,' and once they were cut into bite-sized pieces, managed to spill syrup all down her front. Nothing a little surreptitious spell couldn't fix, but annoying nonetheless. I tried to steal a bite, but Teecie moved the plate away from my fork. "Mine, Dorco, no yours. Mine." Then she proceeded to block the plate from view with whatever was available: salt and pepper shakers, the napkin dispenser, and even an extra menu that had been left at the table.

None of the girls finished, though Teecie insisted on trying bites of both my breakfast and Reni's. I was quite concerned to see how little Kali had eaten. I offered to buy her some toast or something, but she shook her head. I declined boxes for the remainders, and led the girls back to the car. They climbed in, and we were off again.

The park was only a few blocks away. I pulled up to the curb, and the girls got out and ran to the swing set right near the car. Teecie needed help getting onto the swing, but Kali and Reni were already pumping away, swinging higher and higher. I pushed Teecie's swing, laughing at her peals of laughter as I made a special point of pushing her so high that I could run underneath a couple of times. Kali was soon bored with swinging, and I watched her carefully as she made her way to the slide. I put Reni in charge of Teecie, and followed Kali, sitting by the slide, watching as she slid down it again and again.

Reni's arms had obviously become tired and I watched as she unbuckled Teecie from her swing and led her over to the teeter-totter. Unfortunately, she soon decided it would be more fun to torture her sister, and made sure to keep the contraption stuck in the air so that Teecie could not get down. Teecie was shrieking her head off, so, and hoping to head off more trouble, I made my way over to rescue her, but this turned out to be a huge mistake. The moment my back was turned, Kali was off and running…to an officer that had just passed by.

"That man's not our daddy! He stole us! Help!" I winced as I heard this. This was _not_ good.

I glared at Reni, who had the intelligence to look abashed. She hurried to her sister's side. She smiled at the officer. "Don't pay attention to her. That's just our uncle Jack. Mum wanted him to watch us for the day, and Kali's just upset at mum 'cause she promised to take us to see a movie today and uncle Jack won't do it."

I picked up Teecie, who was still a bit traumatized from the teeter-totter and walked over to the policeman. "Can I help you, officer?"

The man looked at me, and how Teecie was clinging to me, then down to Kali, who was still looking up at him. He smiled at her. "Well, young lady, your sisters don't seem to be afraid of this man. Are you sure you aren't making up a story?"

"No!" she cried. "He hurt Teecie! She has bruises. Look at her arm!"

I breathed a sigh of relief that Teecie had showed me the bruises I had caused. The officer looked at me once more. "Sorry, sir, but I'm afraid I'll have to look."

I nodded. "Teecie, can you show the man your arms?" She looked up at me with big eyes, then nodded and held out her arms to the man. He inspected them carefully, top and bottom, then turned back to Kali.

"Your sister's arms are fine, and I would be careful telling fibs like that in the future, young lady. You could get someone into trouble." He turned back to me. "Sorry to bother you, sir. Good luck with the babysitting." He winked, tipped his cap, and continued on his way.

The look Kali gave me then was pure venom. She kicked at me, and when Reni grabbed her arm, she hit at her sister. "I hate you both!" She struggled against her sister's grip, but was unable to break it. I led the way back to the car, and Reni pushed her inside. I strapped Teecie in, then started up the car before turning to deal with her. I needed those few extra minutes to catch my temper. "If you do that again, you will _not_ like what happens, Kalare. I've been nice up to now, but I don't have to be. I don't want to threaten you, but if you do stuff like this when I'm being nice, why should I even try? I have not hurt you, nor do I intend to, but that doesn't mean that I won't find ways to punish you."

I turned around again, and pulled out into traffic. "We are going to the store now, but if you cause any more trouble, I will take you back, and come back on my own. Understood?"

There was silence in the back seat, then an "Ow!"

Followed by, "Answer him, brat!"

"Reni, you're not allowed to hurt your sisters, either. That's not why we're together. Apologize."

There was a grudging, "Sorry."

I heard Kali sniff, but nothing more.

I sighed. All I could do was hope that the warning took. I wasn't sure what I would do if she did do something at the store. I parked near the entrance. "Reni, I expect you to help me in there. One incident, and we leave, got it? Everyone'll just have to make do with what I choose when I come back tomorrow."

"Yes, Dragon," she replied.

I helped Teecie out of her seatbelt and into a nearby cart. Then I thought of something. "Kali, would you like to ride on the cart, too?" She looked at me suspiciously for a few moments, but finally nodded. I helped her into the cart, and she settled down in the front of the basket.

The shopping went well for several minutes, with all three girls pointing out things that they wanted. I nixed a few things as being too difficult to deal with as far as cooking went, but on the whole I indulged them. Unfortunately, my luck ran out as we approached the checkout. Kali decided that this was her chance, with the most people nearby, and began to scream bloody murder. I couldn't exactly use my wand with so many Muggles watching, so I gave Reni the car keys, and told her to take Kali to the car.

The cashier looked at me askance, but began to ring up the things in the cart as I tried desperately to see out to the car to make sure the girls had gotten in safely. If Kali had managed to escape her sister's grasp…No, I was going to trust Reni. She knew the girl better than I did. She had to be able to deal with her, right?

With the groceries paid for and placed back in the cart, I hurried out to the car to see Reni struggling to push a still-screaming Kali into the car. I put my hand on her shoulder. "Put the groceries in the back, Reni. I'll deal with her." Reni nodded and moved away. Kali's shrieks stopped abruptly. She looked up at mea with huge eyes. "Get in. Now. I'm not asking a second time." I could see her considering, but then she got in, and crossed her arms, glaring at me. I made sure she was buckled in, then pulled Teecie from the cart. She was obviously quite upset by what was going on, as she was sniffling, and fat tears crept down her face. "It's okay, Teecie, I'm not going to hurt her. I'm just upset. Let's get you buckled in, okay?"

Teecie just looked at me with huge eyes. "Want daddy."

I closed my eyes. Damn the girl. So much for trying to be nice. I buckled in Teecie, then glared back at Kali, who glared right back. I was so angry on the drive back that I nearly crashed several times. I sent Reni upstairs with the girls while I brought in the groceries. I _had_ to calm myself. I just wouldn't let them out again until things were resolved. It was the only way to deal with the girl. She obviously wasn't just going to let go of this.

Well, we had food that she'd eat now, at least. And tomorrow I could try again. She was a kid. She'd come around. I just needed to back off a bit. When I reached their room again, Kali and Teecie were curled around each other, sobbing. I closed my eyes again, set the groceries down and went to my own room. Maybe a nap would help. At least it would pass time. And then we could have dinner, and maybe another story would help.

I woke to my alarms blaring. It took me a moment to realize what they meant. He was here. And there were two alarms going, so he hadn't come alone. He'd probably brought Snape along too. I hurried to the other room. Teecie and Kali were fast asleep, but Reni looked up, scared, when I entered. "What is it?"

"Don't worry. Whoever it is, I'll take care of them. Watch your sisters, okay?"

She swallowed, but nodded. I left the room and hurried to the room I had prepared for this. The girls would be fine. Knowing my father, he'd send Snape for the girls and come after me himself. And that was just what I wanted. I had been waiting for this for a long time. I should have known it wouldn't take Lucius long. After all, where else _would_ I take them but Malfoy Manor?

Time to put phase three into action. I quickly went downstairs and moved to the room I had prepared for just such an eventuality. There was little furniture there, only a huge wood desk and a chair behind it. They were the only things in the room that were not layered with dust. I'd stocked the fireplace behind the desk with wood when I'd visited before, and now a single "Incendio" started a blaze going in it. I settled myself in the chair to wait.

I didn't have to wait long…


	12. Entracte II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, this is the last chapter before the big fight. I just wanted everyone to see exactly how Snape and Lucius and Adriana are doing, and what happened in between the abduction and the discovery. And the next chapter is huge, folks. :) And after that, only one more to go.

_Entracte II_

Things were not going at all well. Draco had disappeared like mist with the girls, and Snape was beginning to wonder if they would ever find them. Lucius had insisted that he and Snape search Hogwarts castle entirely, top to bottom, which had turned up nothing, unfortunately. Snape had considered calling on Potter and asking to borrow that fascinating map of his, but figured that he would if they were unsuccessful in their other searches.

After the search, they had gone to see Narcissa, who had been far from helpful. Snape knew he should have gone alone. She and Lucius had not seen each other since before Lucius had been sent to Azkaban, and it had been quite an uncomfortable encounter. Narcissa had told them that she had not seen Draco in months, and those were the last civil words she said to them. Lucius had wanted Snape to use Veritas serum on her, but Snape had refused. Draco was too canny to include his mother in his plans, and while she might be enjoying Lucius's desperation, he had seen that she was quite startled to hear just what it was that Draco had done. No, there would be no help from that quarter.

As the afternoon wore on on the second day, Snape knew that it was only a matter of time before he would have to return to Adriana to let her know what was going on. None of their leads had panned out. Though they had discovered the flat Draco had rented in the town near Adriana's property, there had been little of help there. The house-elf there had cowered in the corner, but had been quite unwilling to answer any questions. Snape still had some people out there looking, but he knew it was time to call in the big guns. He didn't want this to go public any more than Lucius did, but there was no other choice. They were going to have to go to the Ministry for real help. And it would only be a matter of time before the Prophet found out, and Lucius and Adriana's family would be spread across the front page. But first he had to tell Adriana.

It was approaching forty-eight hours when Snape convinced Lucius it was time to let Adriana know what was going on before they went to the Ministry. He sent Lucius back to the property, in hopes that Draco would send a message, or leave more clues…anything.

Approaching Hogwarts from town, Snape was amazed that the school was still standing when he returned to talk to Adriana. He winced to think what his office would look like when he entered. He knew Adriana's temper would not allow it to be anything less than total destruction. Hopefully most of the headmasters' portraits would still be intact, at least.

He approached the door cautiously. Surprisingly, there were no explosions or screams. This put him more on edge rather than less, though. Had she somehow found a way out of the room? God, what if she'd already found Draco? As stupid as the boy was being, he definitely didn't want to see him dead. He cared for the idiot child. But when Adriana was angry, everyone had to watch out.

He was reaching for the door handle when he heard voices inside the room.

"What if they don't find him, Albus? Those girls…They're my life. I can't live through losing more children. It's too much." The sobs were quiet, but Snape's heart was wrung. It was true. She hadn't had much luck with her children. Her eldest daughter had turned on her, and there had been several miscarriages as well. Snape had been there when she had told Dumbledore about her pregnancy with Reni. He had seen her fear then. How scared she had been. But she had gotten through that. The girls were happy and healthy, or at least as happy and healthy as could be expected. And now this. Maybe he'd borrow Filch's chains and teach that boy a lesson once they found him.

Opening the door, he saw Adriana sitting on the floor, surrounded by the wreckage of his once-neat office. Albus's portrait was propped against the chair across from her. Albus looked up at Snape, and Adriana's head whipped around. She leapt to her feet, but Snape made sure to close the door behind himself and ward it so he only would be able to open it again.

"Let me out, Severus. I'm going to tear the little snot limb from limb. Where are my girls? Have you even found them yet?"

Snape shook his head. "Nothing yet, Adriana. And even if we had, I couldn't let you hurt the boy. He's being an idiot, but I honestly don't think he'll hurt them. He wants to hurt Lucius, not them."

Adriana went rigid. It should have been a warning to Snape, but he was so focused on trying to calm her that the realization of what she could do didn't occur to him until he felt the pain. It was like a fire had been lit under his skin. He collapsed against the door, but otherwise didn't move. "And how do you think," her voice rang in his head, her lips unmoving, "that he will hurt Lucius? Do you honestly expect me to believe that child won't think of using their pain to hurt him?" The pain disappeared, and Snape gasped. "Well, do you?" she asked out loud.

He took a deep breath. "Adriana…"

"No! The child is out of control. You and Lucius had a chance to deal with him. Now it's my turn."

"I can't let you. I realize you're scared, and angry, but he's just a boy, who is lashing out. He won't hurt them." He braced himself, sure that Adriana would strike at him again, but was saved by Albus's soft voice.

"Adriana, can't you see he's trying to help? Do you truly think lashing out at your friends will help you find Draco?"

Snape looked at her, and watched her scowl for a moment. "Adriana, if we thought there was anything you could do, we'd ask. You know that. But this is about Draco and Lucius. If anything positive is going to come out of this, it has to be the two of them, alone…"

"Positive? The only possible positive thing I'd like to see come out of this is that boy's incarceration. Or worse! He took my children! And I'll make sure he doesn't have the chance to do it to anyone else, let alone have his own." Her eyes narrowed, and if Snape could, he would have taken a step back from her.

"Adriana," Albus said. You can rant, or you can help. Which would you rather do?"

She whirled to confront the portrait. "Don't you try that on me, Albus. I won't fall for it. This isn't my fault. They thought they could control that child. Well, they couldn't, and now look what he's done! So now it's my turn."

Snape shook his head. "Adriana, I don't think that there's anything you _can_ do at this point. We haven't seen a trace of him. We have no idea where he may have gone."

Albus looked startled. "He didn't go to the manor?"

Snape sniffed. "Why on earth would the boy go there? It's a wreck."

"It might be a wreck, Severus, but I'm sure he still sees it as his home."

Snape considered this. Why hadn't that occurred to him? "Well, I suppose it's possible. We'll check there tomorrow. Lucius has returned to the farm, just in case Draco tries to get in contact. I was going to go speak with Draco's friends, see if any of them know where he might be." He steeled himself and turned to Adriana. She wasn't going to like this, but it had to be said. "So, if we don't find him tomorrow, Lucius has agreed that we shouldn't wait any longer…"

Her eyes were slits. "To do what, Snape? Give up?"

He closed his eyes for a moment, then looked at her again. "To tell the Ministry."

It was a larger explosion that he had expected. Every window in the office shattered, and before he could duck the shards, he was thrown backwards into the door. "I can't believe you would even consider doing that to me! You've had a taste of what I can do, Severus. Do you really want me as an enemy? Do you know how that would destroy my life? I'll kill you before I let them get their hands on me."

And then he was on fire again. But this time the pain was focused around his heart. "Give me one good reason, and Hogwarts will need a new headmaster."

He stood perfectly still. "Adriana," he spoke through gritted teeth, "I have no choice. We need to find the girls. All of us want them safe…"

She broke away from him with a sob, collapsing on the floor, and the pain receded. "God, help me! What do we do? If he hurts them…"

He caught his breath, then moved forward and put his arms around her. He spoke to her quietly. He had to calm her. "Adriana, I will do everything in my power to keep those girls safe. I won't let Draco hurt them." He turned her face to meet his. "Do you trust me?"

"Trust. You know, Severus, you throw that word around quite easily for someone who didn't trust me enough to tell me what was going on without drugging me."

"I apologize for hurting you that way, but I believed I was doing what was best for everyone. Neither Lucius nor I could be sure that this was Draco's doing, and we did not want to upset you."

"Well, I'm upset now, Severus. And even if this ends happily, I would still be furious. As it is, I now face the possible loss of everything. Again. Thanks to you."

Snape pulled her closer. "We will _not_ let that happen, Adriana. We'll find them. And the girls will be safe. You'll see." He quietly slid his arms around her, and was pleased to feel her arms wrap around his waist. A kind of unspoken acceptance of his apology. "I'm sorry that I was unable to bring myself to tell you, Adriana. The boy is almost as much my godson as Reni is my goddaughter. It pains me to realize that I failed him, and as a result, failed you."

"I know you're trying to find them, but sitting here, alone, waiting for news is so painful. Please let me help?" the pleading on her face was too much, and he looked away. Albus's portrait had one eyebrow raised at him, but there was a smile on the old man's face.

"You weren't alone, Adriana. Albus has been here the entire time. And the house elves were available for whatever you needed…"

She pulled out of his arms and stood. "How can you even suggest that that would be enough to sustain me? My children are _missing,_ Severus. How can I just sit here and wait for news? It's driving me mad!" She began to pace through the room.

"You can help by staying here and waiting for the rest of my contacts to call in. I still have a few people who haven't gotten back in touch. And you, if anyone, would be able to contact Lucius or I almost anywhere. Please, Adriana, we need you here."

She stopped pacing and looked at him warily. "When you say here, to you mean this room, or do you mean Hogwarts, Severus? Because if I have to stay another night in this room…"

Snape sighed. "I'll let you out, Adriana, but I have to ask you to promise…"

"I won't go after him. Yet." Her arms were wrapped around her torso, but she glared at him. "But when this is all over…"

"I can't let you hurt him, Adriana. As much as the boy has been stupid and heartless in this, he is still someone who has been just as hurt as anyone else in this. And I've promised myself that he will have my protection."

Adriana glared at him for several minutes, and Snape was sure she would refuse to agree with his conditions. Then she sighed, and nodded her head. "But if he ever so much as comes near my daughters again, the deal is off, Severus."

"I will endeavor to inform him of that."

After that, things went a bit smoother. Albus was quick to convince Snape that Adriana was quite right. It was too soon to go to the Ministry. Getting them involved should only be a last resort, and as they still had some leads, there was still time. After all, neither Lucius nor Snape wanted the boy to go to Azkaban.

Severus ate, and spent the evening working on contacting Draco's friends from school. Unfortunately, none of them had heard from Draco in more than three years. Snape slept little that night, feeling as though the leads were growing slimmer by the moment. Perhaps Albus was right, and they should go to Malfoy Manor to see if the boy had decided to hide there. But there were still a few leads, and Snape wouldn't give in until he'd followed each and every one.

The next morning, he apparated to the farm and found a sleep-deprived Lucius waiting for him. He threatened to send him to Hogwarts, but Lucius just snarled at him, and stormed down the path to the car. At lunch, they arrived at Hogwarts to the news that one of Snape's contacts had reported a disturbance in the little town near Malfoy Manor.

It took only a bit of investigation to be sure. A young blonde man with three young girls had been shopping, and one of the girls had suddenly thrown a temper tantrum. They had driven off shortly after. It had to be them. Severus was furious with himself. They could have had the girls back that first night. How could he have been so stupid?

Lucius tried to insist he should go alone, but Snape refused to allow it. Draco would attack the moment he saw Lucius, and someone needed to get those girls out. It took a great deal of argument, but eventually Lucius agreed, and the two apparated to the gates of the manor.

At the front door, the two men split up. The manor was large, and they would be able to cover more ground separately than together. Lucius began to make his way through the hall, and Snape headed quickly to the stairs. Now, if only he could find the girls…

At least he knew where to start. Draco had been the kind of child who had always hidden in his room when he was upset. The hall seemed so much longer than he remembered, but finally he reached Draco's bedroom. He was about to open the door when he heard a door nearby open. A blonde head peeked out.

"Dragon?"

"Renata?" Snape's heart was in his throat. They were all right.

The girl turned huge silver eyes on him. A grin broke out on her face. "Uncle Sev!" She pushed open the door and ran to hug him. He trembled for a moment under the onslaught, then hugged her roughly to him. They were soon joined by two smaller bodies, tear-streaked faces rubbing into his robe as they cried his name.

Once he had collected himself, he turned to Reni. "Come on, we need to get you back to your mother. She's been missing you terribly." Reni looked unsure, but Kali and Teecie were quick to agree. Reni grudgingly took their bags, and Snape led Reni by the hand, eventually picking up Teecie and Kali, and following right behind Reni to keep her from getting any ideas.

Returning to Hogwarts took more time than Snape would have liked. As much as he would have preferred to floo with the girls, that would draw too much attention from the Ministry. An abandoned manor of one of the best-known Dark Wizards suddenly being used for flooing after all this time? They'd send Aurors in a second. No, the Knight Bus was the only available means to get the girls to Hogwarts easily, and despite the fact that it was a horrible contraption that Snape swore he would never use, it was the only real choice. The ride to Hogwarts was gruesome, but soon he was following Reni up the walk to the school, and before they were even halfway up the path, they were met by a tear-stained Adriana who swooped down on her daughters, laving them all with kisses. Snape helped her take them to her room and settle them down. Teecie was practically asleep the moment her head touched her pillow. Kali followed soon after, but Reni was the most stubborn of the three, and after a quick kiss on her forehead, Snape left Adriana to deal with her.

He only hoped that when he returned to Hogwarts, the girls would still have a father. He hurried to the edge of the anti-apparition wards, and was soon hurrying down the halls at the manor, desperate to find Draco and Lucius before the two killed each other.

 _Next chapter: Catharsis. Everything finally comes to a head._


	13. Catharsis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Well, I'm horribly nervous about this folks. This is what I've been working up to for thirteen chapters. I have never written anything quite like this, so I hope it worked. I had a ton of help from Foodie on this. Almost every word and action Lucius makes in this chapter came straight from her. So, this is possibly the longest chapter I've ever written for ANY fic, so I hope it's good. There is a final chapter after this, so do stick around. I'd love to know exactly what people think. Is Draco too soft? Too harsh? Lucius too wimpy? Whatever. I love constructive criticism. I can't wait to hear from you all.

_Catharsis_

The room I had prepared was perfect. Father's study. This was the place I had come to receive discipline when I was a boy, and this would be where I finally turned the tables on Lucius. I couldn't help but smile. He would be the one to be punished tonight, not me. The fire behind me warmed the room, and it was also the only light in the place. I would be able to see him, but all he would see would be my silhouette.

My heart sped up when I heard a very familiar sound out in the hall. The tapping of a cane, followed by a less familiar shuffle…his feet. But it had to be him. It was probably that wound of his. I'd seen him limping when I'd watched him with the girls. When he appeared in the doorway, there was a moment where I quivered. But was it anger or fear? I would _not_ let him affect me that way.

"Father," I sneered. "I should never have doubted you'd find me. I mean, you can't have lost _all_ your intelligence over the years..."

Lucius stiffened, but entered the room, slowly working his way to the desk. When he reached me, he made a sudden lunge across it and grabbed my collar. "Where the hell are my daughters?" he whispered through clenched teeth. I'd heard this tone before. This was the tone that had often sent me fleeing to my room, or cowering at his feet when I was a child. But I wasn't a child any more.

I pushed him away from me. "Don't touch me!" I scowled, then moved across the room from him.

"If you've hurt them..." he growled at me.

I snorted. "You seem to loose children easily, don't you? Well, don't worry your pretty little head, Lucius. They're fine. And they'll stay that way. Especially once I'm through with you. You have other things you should be concerned about."

"Like?"

"Me." I raised my wand quickly and cast a nifty little spell that I had come across my final year at Hogwarts. "Adhaero." I'd meant to use it on Potter and his gang, but the opportunity had never come up. Instead, I now used it on Lucius, and was quite pleased with the results. He was now stuck, foot and cane to the floor. But that wasn't the end. "Accio wand!" His wand flew from inside his robes, and directly to my hand before he could catch it, and I grinned. "Thank you for being so obliging. I thought for sure that you would put up much more of a fight than that." He scowled at me, but said nothing.

I weighed the wand in my hand. "You know, I always thought this wand of yours would be heavier. All that killing, the curses you cast with it...doesn't it get heavier with every kill you make?"

He continued to glare at me for a moment, and I wondered if he would respond. "Not that that's how they work, but it's not my original, so that wouldn't matter anyway," he finally admitted.

I smirked. "Ah. Right. Why stick with anything original when you desert your life? I should have known," I sneered.

I looked him up and down now. "You know, Lucius, I've always wanted to see you this way. Weak. Helpless. At _my_ mercy. And, since you taught me _nothing_ about mercy, guess where that leaves _you_?"

He didn't even wince. "Do what you will and be done with it."

That was definitely not enough of a reaction. I slipped his wand into my pocket, then leaned against the desk and glared at him. "No, first we talk. You know how the game is played. You don't get to deprive me of my victory that easily."

He sighed. "Very well. What shall we talk about?"

Where to start? I glared at him for a moment before settling on a choice. "What was it, exactly, about _that_ woman that made it so easy to desert your only son? Am I—was I—really so worthless to you?" I turned away from him to gather myself. I had to keep control. "It's not like you ever tried to come and _see_ me, Lucius. No, you figured that I must not want to see you."

When I turned back to look at him, his eyes were narrowed. "How could I?"

I laughed. "How could you? What was I that hard to find?"

He grimaced. "Right. Hello boy, your old jailbait dad's come to visit you. What fun we shall have together!" He laughed bitterly.

"It couldn't be much worse than when I was growing up, I'm sure." I glared at him. "No, you were just too comfortable with that...whore...of yours. You didn't want to bother yourself. Every day I was with Grandfather's solicitors, I waited to hear from you. Nothing." I leaned towards him, but stayed out of his reach. "Was I really that disgusting to you, Lucius? To just pretend that I'd never even existed!"

He winced. "I had to stay away from you because I was a danger to you."

I snorted. "Danger. Right. That never kept you away from me before."

I looked away from him, and realized just how angry I'd gotten. This track was getting me nowhere. I was more angry than he was. I needed to keep control. Time to try something else. I turned back to him, my face blank once more. "Besides, Lucius, you seemed to take Azkaban as an excuse to stay away from me. I mean, it's not like you served a _real_ sentence there. And the dementors were all gone. You can hardly have _really_ suffered."

His face tightened. I'd hit on something. "You'd be surprised, boy. Besides, when I returned, there was one here. They brought me back here, and one was stationed outside the room."

Interesting. I hadn't known that Voldemort had used the Manor as a hideout. But what better than a deserted manor? "And? Did you enjoy reliving raping my mother? Destroying my life? Killing Muggles? Was it fun?" I stared at him, my eyebrow raised. I wasn't going to miss this reaction.

He looked away, and I could see his face flush. "No."

It was a good feeling, watching him squirm this way. "Good. Not that I believe you truly suffered, Lucius. I mean, it's not like the Dark Lord would really do anything truly horrible to _you_. You controlled more of his followers than _he_ did."

His voice was bitter when he finally spoke. "Oh, I became his special pet. The one he enjoyed using for his pleasure during boring times…or whenever the fancy struck him." The pain in his voice was delicious. Finally I was getting back just a bit of my own. And was that…shame? That stopped me. Had he really been…I mentally shook myself. I couldn't allow any mercy to show, so I prodded to see what reaction I would get. Perhaps I'd misunderstood?

"Are you telling me, Lucius, that you were _raped_?" My mask almost slipped as I watched him flush and look at the floor. My breath caught, and I had to close my eyes. My world spun for a moment. Thinking of Lucius vulnerable, and…I swallowed the gorge that rose in my throat, then shook myself again. After all, this was what I wanted, wasn't it? So I managed to twist my face into a smirk. "Oh, do that again. That was enjoyable. Do you know how many times in my life you've made me feel like less than nothing?" I stepped close to him, so that I could pull his face up. I wanted to see this. "You deserved EVERYTHING the Dark Lord did to you, Lucius."

"I know." His shoulders slumped as he spoke, but he did not struggle to remove his chin from my hand.

"You're nothing but a coward. And a sneak. And a traitor." I spat each accusation at him, but he only flinched, though he still did not meet my eyes.

"I know."

"It's a wonder he didn't kill you."

"It is."

"Being Voldemort's little...friend must have been very tiring for you. Did you use your bed, or his?"

That finally got to him. His eyes snapped up to mine, and I couldn't help but step back when I saw the fire there. "Watch your mouth!"

I crossed my arms and laughed. "Why? I'm only doing what you taught me, Lucius. Going for the pain. And that's a particularly...difficult subject for you, isn't it? I like making you squirm." Lucius's shoulders slumped. It felt so good seeing him this way. As long as I didn't think too hard about the reason for it. "You did it to me enough." Lucius's gaze returned to the floor. "Aren't you proud of your son, Lucius? How well he's learned his lessons? Come on, where's the praise? Or are you _still_ not allowed to tell me how proud you are, even now?"

Lucius bent forward so that his arms were crossed on the edge of the desk, and he buried his head in them, his shoulders shaking. This was…not what I was expecting. "Are you...crying?" There was no response, and I hated the cold feeling that filled me. "Answer me, Lucius."

Lucius stood up and slowly turned to face me. Tears streaked his cheeks. "You have no idea what I went through," he said, bitterly, his eyes cold.

I was stunned for a moment and before I could catch myself, I backed up another step. But I couldn't allow myself to care what this was doing to him. I raised my chin and glared at him again. "Do I care?"

He gazed at me for a moment, then looked away. "No. Never mind."

I moved directly in front of him, my face near his. "Why didn't he kill you? I've always wondered."

Lucius's eyes were emotionless when he looked at me again. "Because he wanted somebody with more power than me."

"Of course. But why would Potter rescue you?"

Lucius shook his head. "Not Potter. He used me to try and get at Adriana. He knew he had to keep me alive to keep her happy."

I sneered. "Why would he want _her_?"

"Because he found out about her powers." His voice was flat.

I couldn't stop myself. I didn't care about the chit, but curiosity gets the best of everyone now and then. "That...woman...has 'powers?' What power could she have that the Dark Lord did not?"

Lucius's eyes glinted in the light. "She doesn't use a wand. She doesn't need a broom to fly. She has shielding powers that are unmatched by anybody." I could see he was watching me to see what my reaction to this was. I just rolled my eyes. "She thinks things and they happen."

I sneered. "Right. So, what, she's some supernatural, extra-special witch? Why didn't she just kill him, then?"

"She tried. She went up against Voldemort and the Death Eaters. She came here, and took me back from Voldemort. They came to an…'agreement.'"

But I was no longer paying any attention to what he said. Just one thing had caught my attention. My voice lowered to almost a whisper. "Here? She was in... _this_ house?"

Lucius didn't understand. "Voldemort tricked her into coming here."

" _You_ let _her_ into this house?" I growled.

Now he was puzzled. "No. Voldemort did."

"Did he? I doubt you fought it, did you?" I snarled at him. He recoiled. "You know, I hope you and Voldemort _rot_ in _hell_ together, Lucius. You deserve each other. Between the two of you, I'm nothing." I regained my mask, calming myself. "So, Lucius, I'd like to thank you for that. Before I kill you, of course..." I smiled thinly.

He straightened, his face calm. "Then do it."

"Oh, no, Lucius. See, you haven't suffered nearly enough. In fact, if I was what you wanted me to be, your girls would be in front of you now, writhing in agony. Would that get to you? Or would you even care?" I had to get some kind of reaction, even if I knew I would never go through with such a thing.

It worked. His eyes widened, and his knuckles turned white on the head of his cane. "How can you even think of doing such a thing? They're your sisters!"

"You trained me to. Do you forget? But I'm _not_ what you wanted. Am I?" I turned my back to him, facing the fire so I could regain my calm façade. When I looked back at him, it was fully in place now. "Besides, Lucius, I know they're my sisters. And I know what you're like. Why do you think I took them from you? I wanted to _save_ them from you, Lucius. They'll never have to put up with your little 'training sessions' for twelve hours at a time. They'll _never_ use the Unforgivables. On _anything_. And _you'll_ never see them again. And do you know what? That pleases me more than anything else. You've ignored me for years, but I've got them now, so you're damned well going to pay attention to me!"

He raised his chin, but otherwise didn't move. "Do your best."

I smiled a grim smile. "Ah, Lucius, you know what my best is, don't you? And really, what can you do without your wand?"

His lips thinned to a line. Then he raised his chin further, and met my eyes, unblinking. "Do it. You seem so eager to."

"Oh, but you still don't get it, do you? I don't want you to die _now_. I want to break you first. Like you broke me. I want to hear you beg me to kill you, just to end it. And I'll do whatever it takes...father."

He paled, and his eyes glittered. "I'm sorry I left you. I'm sorry I left such a void in your life. I'm sorry that you've been unable to move on."

I clenched my teeth to keep from shouting. "No," I sneered. "I don't want sorry. I want you to _beg_! I want your misery. I want you to be as dead inside as you've made me! To be tossed out like a piece of _garbage_! Me, Draco Malfoy! Like I was nothing! Did you enjoy doing that to me, Lucius?" I drew myself up again, and settled in the chair. I had to remember, I was the one in charge here. I couldn't let him rattle me.

I sighed. "You know, Lucius, you disappoint me. I expected more of a fight than this. I mean, I have gotten through that mask of yours a few times, but I was hoping to see a little blood by now. Am I not worth your time?" I paused, and looked up at him, but he remained silent. "You certainly haven't bothered with me for almost five years now...why should you bother now…when I'm about to kill you?" I smiled. "You know what I'd like, Lucius? I want to see you fight me." I stood up, pulled his wand from the pocket I'd stashed it in and threw it to him. "Let's see if you've still got what it takes. Fight me."

His eyes narrowed as he looked down at the piece of wood and magic that I had tossed him. Then he frowned and looked up at me. "I don't want to fight my son." He tossed the wand on the desk, and it rolled off the table and out of sight.

How dare he? I give him a chance against me, and he spits in my face? "Fight me, damn you! I want to watch you rage at me one last time."

He crossed his arms over his chest. "No."

"I want to watch you struggle. I need to see it!"

"I won't fight you Draco!"

"Coward! Weakling!"

"There is strength in not fighting. Life doesn't always have to be a battle. Revenge can be a reward, but not always."

I sneered. "What are you, some kind of book of proverbs or something? Or are you just hoping I'll back off? Is that it?"

He blinked. "No. I deserve all the anger and hatred you have for me. I do not deny that."

I laughed bitterly.

"It's not a war." He held out his hand, probably hoping I'd toss him back his wand. But he'd already thrown that chance away. Literally. I turned away from him, my chin high.

"That, I have to say, is something I've never heard from you before." I turned back to him, a sneer on my face. "When you talked to me, it was always win, win, win! Nothing else would do. 'The mudblood does better than you, aren't you ashamed?' 'Potter's better than you in everything, power, Quidditch...' 'You don't deserve _anything_!' Every time you said it, it killed me."

He closed his eyes. "I'm not that man anymore!"

"What, I'm just supposed to believe that you've _changed_?"

He opened his eyes. "Yes, I have!"

"No you haven't. You'll always be Lucius Malfoy. And Lucius Malfoy only cares about one person. And that's _not me_!"

His eyes were molten now. "You were always somebody I cared about!"

I snorted. "You _never_ cared about me! You showed no care, least of all when your precious woman appeared! You ignored me, and everything about me. You know, Lucius you're the real problem here. You've always been the problem. Always been what's wrong with me. You, you, you! Everything I am is because of you. And I'm going to make sure that you pay for everything that you did!" I pulled myself back together, and straightened once more. Then I sneered at him, "You have no one to blame for all this but yourself."

"Why didn't you just come to me directly? I wouldn't have turned you away. Why kidnap your sisters?"

"Because I know how you work. You say one thing, and you mean another. I can never believe a word you say! So, I decided to save them the hassle of learning just what kind of a man their father was. They'll thank me for it someday. I'm glad I got to meet them. I'm going to enjoy getting to know them better. Reni, especially, is quite the little helper. We're...two of a kind, you might say..."

"She is all Malfoy."

"True." How many times had I thought that to myself these past few years?

"I wish she had been spared that."

"And she seems to have the Malfoy hatred well in place. She hates you almost as much as I do." I smiled sweetly. "She reminds me...of me. Small, and hurt...and angry. She was more than willing to help me."

"She has her fair share of issues."

"It seems you have a bit of trouble fostering trust in your children, Lucius. Why shouldn't I save them all from you? How do you know similar issues with Kali and Teecie wouldn't crop up later? After all, they're so young."

"Reni showed up angry."

I smiled. "Did she? She seemed to like me almost immediately the first time we met. That doesn't seem like the reaction of an angry child. What _did_ you do to her?"

He looked away. "Nothing. That's what I did. I wasn't there for her." Lucius was somber now, just talking, staring into space. "I missed her birth. I missed out on her first year. Everything. Adriana brought Reni home a little while after her first birthday, that's the first time I met her."

My eyes widened. "So, Reni _does_ have reason to hate you, doesn't she?" I smiled. "I knew I was right." I looked at him thoughtfully for a moment. "You know, if she were just a few years older, I might have let her join in this little family reunion. I'm sure she'd learn the Unforgivables rather quickly. She is your daughter, after all."

He scowled at me. "She's a child. And you took advantage of her."

I shook my head. "No, Lucius. I got to know her. And what will you do to Kali? And Teecie? I have to keep you from hurting them, too. And I will. It's only a matter of time, you know. Until you do. And if you care for them as much as you pretend, you'd beg me to kill you before you do."

"If you are going to kill me, then do it now." Lucius looked at me, his eyes meeting mine, never blinking, his shoulders straight, and his chin held high.

I sneered. "No, first I have to break you. That's a lesson I learned well, Lucius. One that I never got to use. So I guess now it's time." I smiled sweetly. "I want you to beg me, _father_. Beg me to kill you. To end it all. Before you hurt them."

His eyes narrowed. "You had to hurt _me_ and you didn't give a damn who you hurt in the process, is that it?"

I was getting quite sick of his second-guessing me, and particularly his questions that were obviously his way of trying get control of our little battle. "If you question me again, I might have to use this," I twirled my wand in my hand, "again.

"So, when was it that I became so abhorrent to you, Lucius? You trained me to become a dark wizard like you from when I was young, but suddenly, there was the Dark Lord, and you couldn't get me away from you fast enough. All I was ever expecting was to follow in your footsteps, Lucius. As a Death Eater. As your _heir_. But those aren't exactly options in my life anymore, are they? What exactly was it that I did to make you so ashamed?"

He sighed. "I was never ashamed of you. I wanted to protect the people I love, and yes, that includes you, from that danger and the horror that was Voldemort. But I was too far into it for myself. I had no choice but to go back when he rose again. But there was still time and a chance for you to get away from him."

"Right. Like I believe that."

"I knew you'd hate me. But I had to do it, even if you hated me forever."

I smiled a bitter smile. "And I do. How perceptive of you."

"Do you wish I'd let you become a Death Eater?"

"I wasn't exactly asked my opinion, so what's the difference, Lucius?"

"You'd probably be dead now if I had."

I slammed my fist on the table. "It was what you'd raised me to be! What did you expect me to want? What reason did you have to make me into a Death Eater, then deny it to me when I was almost of age? You wrapped me in ribbons of responsibilities, Lucius. Honor, family...Voldemort. And then you proceeded to tear them to shreds!"

He crossed his arms. "Let me ask you a question about choices. You wanted to be a Death Eater more than anything. Why did you not leave school and join him when you came of age? You could have been one. Even without my help."

I sneered. "Do you honestly think he _wanted_ a coward's son? I was ashamed. Ashamed to be your son."

"Did you even try?"

I glared at him. "What makes you think I didn't? Perhaps I was his spy at Hogwarts. You don't know. You weren't there. Perhaps he taught me things you never learned. Maybe I should use that power now. Perhaps I should become the next Dark Lord?"

The look on his face was guarded. "You could attempt that."

He was trying to humour me. Did he think he was going to be rescued? I snorted. "You just want Potter to clean up your mess for you!"

"No, I clean my own messes now. I've always been good at cleaning my messes."

"And this mess? How will you deal with it? Are you going to clean it up by killing me, Lucius?" I leaned towards him, unable to prevent the smile from spreading across my face. "Maybe with your bare hands? Your glare?"

His hands clenched into fists, and I could see the frustration in his eyes flare. "You are my son! I love you! You are not a mess to be cleaned up."

I straightened, smiling, an eyebrow raised. "I don't believe that's what you were thinking when you came in here. Were you? You probably wanted to beat me against the walls, didn't you? For taking them from you?"

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath before looking at me again. "Someday, when you have children of your own, you'll understand why I reacted the way I did."

I narrowed my eyes. "You never reacted that way for me."

"Nobody dared to do such a thing to you when you were small. And when your mother finally did, I wasn't in a position to stop her."

I turned from him. "The old Lucius Malfoy wouldn't have let that stop him."

"He was dead by then. I'm not the same man. But if you want to kill me, then do it. Or hurt me. Torture me. Just get it over with already."

I stiffened. I was the one in charge here. But I couldn't let him see my face. I swallowed. "Maybe it's time to finish this." I took a deep breath. "Just one thing, Lucius. I want you to tell me why." I cursed myself as I said it, but it was too late to draw back the words.

"Why what?"

I was shaking, but I couldn't stop now. I might as well ask. Who knew, I might even get an answer. "Why I was so easy to leave behind. Why you never...loved me." I could hear Lucius draw in his breath. "I want to know..." Maybe I couldn't say it after all.

But Lucius obviously wanted a full victory. "What?"

I might as well give him his victory. It wasn't like he would be around long enough to enjoy it. "That I was important," I whispered. I hugged myself tightly.

There was silence for several minutes, and when I chanced a look behind me, I saw something I had never seen before. Lucius stood stock still, eyes wide, and mouth agape. It took him several minutes to collect himself. When he spoke, his voice was barely more than a whisper. "There was never anybody more important to me than you."

I blinked to stop the tears, and set my mouth in a line. "That was never the impression I got. Everyone was more important than me. Even beating mother." I looked away.

"And what will getting revenge on me prove? How will it help? What will it get you?"

I spun to face him fully, unable to stop the snarl from coming. I was losing control, but I hardly cared anymore. I wanted him to understand. To feel my pain. " _Nothing_! Which is exactly what you've always given me Lucius! Nothing. Nothing to look forward to. Nothing to care about. Nothing to do. I'm nothing. And it's your fault!"

His eyes narrowed. "You are my son! You are Draco Black! That is not nothing."

I raised my chin. "I'm only Black because I couldn't stomach being Draco Malfoy any longer. And it felt good. Denying you me. And pissing off Potter…"

"I bet it did." There was almost a smile on his face.

I didn't want him to be happy. I wanted him to suffer, damn him! "But then even that went away. And _you_ still weren't there!"

"It was a great release, wasn't it? Such an act of rebellion against your father. There's no other high quite like it."

" _You're not my father_! I haven't been your 'child' for _years,_ Lucius!"

He straightened. "You're my son and always will be!"

It was my turn to smile again, but it was a bitter smile. "You gave up that right when you let me become a Black, Lucius. I'm not yours to claim anymore."

"You chose that yourself."

"You didn't exactly _stop_ me, did you?"

"I was not in the position to stop you." He looked away.

"You didn't even _try_!"

"I wasn't even aware enough to know to. I was otherwise…occupied." I could see him wince, and couldn't help but smile wryly.

"Ah, another excuse? What, busy impregnating your sow again?" I narrowed my eyes, and the smile disappeared. "You'd like me to let you go back to your whore, wouldn't you?" A thought came to me, and I could not resist. "How the hell did she convince you to raise all those children of hers? I mean, Reni's obviously yours. Are the other two? I mean, they don't exactly look like you, do they? And Kali has that dark hair…"

He glared at me now, his eyes mere slits. "Like her mum."

I pursed my lips, and looked at him musingly. "Tell me, just how much time does that woman spend around Snape? And is she ever in contact with any Weasleys?" Lucius shook his head, and sighed, but I wasn't to be deterred on this. "I mean, that red hair...It's hardly a Malfoy colour, you'll admit." My smile broadened. "How often does she sleep around on you, Lucius?"

"Adriana had a red haired aunt; it runs in her side of the family."

I crossed my arms and leaned against the desk. "Oh, of course it does, Lucius."

He gritted his teeth. "You know nothing about her."

My smile disappeared. "I know enough. I know she seduced you. I know she'd rather I never existed. That you had no previous commitments…like me…and mother."

"And how do you know that?"

"She certainly seems to have taken up all your time in the last six years or so...and much of it before then, too. So much so that you had no time for me during the Summer Holidays."

He looked surprised at this. "I was always home during the holidays."

"You might have been home, but you were too busy daydreaming about her." I stood and turned away, walking towards the fire. "Or off seeing the slut…"

His voice was soft. "Have you ever been in love? Do you know what it's like?"

I turned and sneered at him. " _Hah_! Love. It doesn't exist. You taught me that!"

"It does exist. I never knew that till I met her. "

I hated the look on his face. Did he think me a weakling? Or perhaps he was the weak one. "Love's just a weakness. And you're weak."

"There is strength in love."

I narrowed my eyes. "Perhaps you need a lesson about love to remind you what you taught me?" I approached him slowly, circling him as I spoke. "Shall I help you, Lucius? The way you used to help me? Do you remember? The lessons? On proper Malfoy behaviour? Standing in a bare room for hours, thinking about what it was I had done wrong? Punished if I so much as lowered my head? Do you remember?"

His chin rose, and he watched as I circled him. "Did I ever strike you? Did I ever beat you?"

"What do you call what you used to do with that cane of yours, Lucius?" I glared pointedly at the offending object, still stuck to the floor, quite upright with or without Lucius' grasp. "Love taps?"

Lucius looked at the floor, and I watched as he adjusted his grip on the thing. "I'd forgotten about that," he whispered.

"Because, let me tell you now, some of those bruises didn't fade for _months_ , Lucius!" He closed his eyes, and I leaned against the desk.

Looking down at the wood beneath my hands, I ran my fingers along the scratches in it. I looked back at him, and began again. "Do you know how much I hate this desk? How _well_ I know it? How long I stood in front of it, waiting to hear those simple words? 'I'm proud of you.' Were they _so_ hard to say?"

Lucius frowned and ran his fingers over the edge of the desk, suddenly lost in thought. "I hate this desk too..."

"Oh? You seemed to have quite a fondness for it when I was young. It was about the only time I saw you, sitting behind this desk, telling me what a failure I was..." He was now blushing horribly, and quite unwilling to meet my gaze. I couldn't help but smile, if mercilessly. "Ashamed, Lucius?

"Yes. I am."

"You _should_ be. And that's why I want to make sure you can't do that to those girls."

His head jerked up, and the glare was back. "I've never raised a hand against the girls!"

"I was only a little younger than Reni when you started those 'Lessons' Lucius. And I've seen the way you yell at her. I won't let you hurt her. Or Kali. Or Teecie." I glared at him. "And you want me to tell you where they are? So you can do the same to them? So you can hurt them like you hurt me?"

His shook his head, his eyes widening, and then they went glassy, and it was almost as though I were not in the room any more. "If only I'd been quieter or smarter or better, maybe he wouldn't hit me. Maybe he'd love me"

He dared…How could he? Taunting me about this? I couldn't restrain my rage. " _Shut up_!" my voice cracked.

And then he looked at me, his face bleak. "Sound familiar?"

"Shut! Up!" I slapped him with each word. "You don't know me!" I snarled. "I went through a lot, you know. Branded not only as the son of Death Eater, but of a traitorous Death Eater at that. Do you imagine _anyone_ wanted to talk to me? And Snape...he was too busy. Meetings...and Her. No one wanted me any more. Do you know how glorious that felt? Do you know how that made me _feel_?" I turned away from him.

Lucius's eyes filled with tears. "I'm sorry I did all of that to you."

My hand itched to slap him again, but I wouldn't give him reason to prove me wrong in this. He was the one in the wrong here. He was the one who should be in pain. "No you're not. You never even tried to help me." I closed my eyes, unable to even look at him any more. "Even without your name, I still look in the mirror every morning, and I want to gouge out my eyes. Do you know what the best part of my life has been these last few years?" I opened my eyes to look at Lucius again. It was time he understood _just_ what he'd done to me.

"Nothing?"

"Wrong," I snarled. "It was spying on your new little family. Do you know what I did when I found out there was more than one child? Do you know how that made me feel?"

"No." His face closed off, but not before I saw the panic there.

"It tore out my insides." I felt myself fall into the memory of that night. The pain, the anger… "I fell into the mud, and my entire body tried to come up through my mouth. I felt like my world...had been a lie." I looked up at him. " _Your_ lie."

Lucius' eyes grew wide at these words, and seemed suddenly out of focus. He swayed where he stood, apparently lost in a memory. "A lie. My lie." He whispered.

What trick was this? "Yes, your lie."

But it was almost as though he didn't even hear me. "It was all a lie. All of it."

What on Earth was he talking about? "I know that! I lived it."

He focused on me again. "I lived it too."

I snorted and turned away.

"It was all a lie. All of it. It was all my fault. It all started because of me. None of this would have happened if it hadn't been for me." He was staring through me, like I didn't even exist.

I swallowed my anger and smirked at him. "Well, that's one thing I never thought I'd hear. An _actual_ confession from the mouth of Lucius Malfoy."

But he wasn't listening. He was still lost in whatever memory he was recalling. "I was weak."

"You are—still."

"I never did have the guts to stand up to him. It was all my fault."

What the hell was this? Who was he talking about? "Who, Voldemort? Why should you? You licked his boots."

Lucius shook himself out of his trance and looked at me, startled. "No, Janos"

I didn't want to ask, but I couldn't stop myself. "Janos? Who's that?"

"My father."

I snarled at him. I was sick of his excuses. Of course. It couldn't possibly be Lucius Malfoy's fault. "Ah. Another one of your little scapegoats. And what is it that he did that takes the blame for everything you've done?"

He scowled. "You have no idea what my father was like. You were what saved me from him!"

I glared, but managed to restrain myself from doing anything more. The only people who had ever been allowed to visit Malfoy Manor were Lucius's Death Eater friends. Or people he was paying off. "No, I don't do I? Because you always kept him from seeing me! Just like mother's father. And any other relatives! Was I that shameful to you? That you never wanted anyone to meet me?"

"I didn't want you involved with that man! You don't know what he was like!"

"How could I, since I never met him? All I have is YOUR word, and right now that means less than nothing, Lucius!" I sneered.

Lucius closed his eyes, and turned his face from me. Slowly he pulled off his right-hand glove, and held out his hand, his pinkie finger extended.

I backed up. I'd never seen him without his gloves on before. There was something wrong with the end of his finger. "What? What is that?"

"That was what happened to naughty boys in my day. Your grandfather Janos cut off the tip of my finger…and used an ember to stop the bleeding."

I winced, turning quickly away to hide my reaction. "Liar."

"I was oh, five or six."

"Why should I believe you?"

He looked at me appraisingly for a moment. I wondered what excuse he would come up with this time. "Did you ever wonder why you never met your grandmother?"

I glared at him. What was he up to now? He was gazing at me calmly, no anger to be seen. I couldn't contain myself. "Because you kept away anyone who could care about me, or contradict you!" I snarled at him.

He shook his head quietly, sadly. "I…cared for my mother very much. I wish you could have known her"

I snorted.

He simply continued to gaze sadly at me. "I wish I could have known her for longer than I did."

"What, did you kill her?" I sneered.

"No. My father did."

"Lies." I looked away from him. That gaze was getting to me, and I couldn't let him see that.

He continued as though I had not spoken. "I found her body on the floor of their bedroom one morning after a particularly loud fight. I was the one who closed her eyes."

I gulped. "And why should I believe you? I saw what you did to mother. How are _you_ any different?" I whipped back to look at him, my eyes practically slits.

"Where do you think I learned it from? But I managed to leave before I did anything so horrible."

I crossed my arms. "Oh, so Lucius Malfoy was being _noble_? For the first time in his life? Hypocrite. You know, Lucius, everything you ever did made sure that I'd be worthless. Even the way you treated mother. If you want to use this as an excuse…"

His eyes flared. "You are far from worthless."

"No, I'm my father's son. But guess what? That means we're _both_ worthless, Lucius. So maybe it's time to rid the world of both of us."

An unreadable expression passed across his face before it set into the blank Malfoy mask again. He moved so that his cane was directly in front of him so he could lean against it, and looked at me calculatingly. "A murder suicide perhaps?"

I looked at him coldly. "I wouldn't use such pedestrian words for it. After all, it's going to be just about the _only_ noble act I ever get to make. Not like _Potter_. But you made sure that I would never amount to much, didn't you?"

His eyes glinted again. "How noble can it be to take your own life out of frustration and anger against me?"

"At least I have good reason," I sneered.

"That isn't a noble reason, it's a spiteful one."

"No, Lucius. The noble part is ridding the world of such a _spiteful_ person. And taking _you_ with me."

He was quiet for several minutes, pondering this. His eyes were sad when he spoke again. "Do you really hate yourself so much?"

I pulled back my lips in a snarl, desperate to keep the tears in my eyes from falling. "Every time I look in the mirror, do you know what I see?" I growled.

"Me?" he asked calmly.

" _Yes_ ," I hissed. I was shaking now. I closed my eyes, desperate to calm myself. How dare he be so calm? He opened his mouth, but I interrupted him. "No. No more questions. Just answers. Why didn't you write to me? At least once? Tell me that you didn't want to see me again?"

I could see this honestly startled him. "What? I wrote dozens of letters to you…you never got them?"

He seemed sincere, but I knew better than to believe that face. "Liar! Would I be asking if I had?" I spat.

"I sent letters every week for a year. And never got a response. I finally stopped because I knew you weren't interested in speaking to me."

"You did not! I never got a single letter!" I glared at him. Letters hadn't worked, even if he'd sent them as he said he had. But there were other ways to talk with me. None of which he'd tried. "You never even tried to see me."

"How could I?"

But I was no longer listening. "I knew what that meant. You despised me. You didn't want me."

"I couldn't endanger you that way."

His calm voice sent me over the edge. " _Hah_! When have you ever worried about _my_ safety? You were _ashamed_ of me!"

"I loved you!" he shouted, angry now.

"Liar!"

"I wanted to save you from the hell of a life that I had!"

I slapped him again and he moved back from me. "Never say that again! It was _already_ far too late for that, Lucius."

He looked away from me. "I wanted to be a better father to you than mine had been to me."

"Then you failed miserably."

He looked at the floor once more and shifted. "I know. I became my father. I was weak. I had to be strong. To be a true Malfoy. To make my father proud. I never wanted his love. I just wanted him to not hurt me all the time. It wasn't much."

I sneered, but this time it was directed inwards more than outwards. He had always been smarter than me. "Ah, well, we're certainly different there. I was a fool as a child. I wanted to be loved by you. You were the only thing in my life. Vital. As much as sleep and food. And you denied yourself, your presence, your…love…to me."

He looked back at me now, and I could see the unshed tears. "I wish I had been able to give it to you. More than anything. I didn't know how."

I looked away from him. "Well, maybe I don't want that anymore. Maybe it just makes this all easier."

"I think it does," he said sadly.

I managed a bitter smile. "Well, then I guess we agree on something."

He took a deep breath. "I became who I was and did what I did to you and your mother because of a lie. A lie built to make me into something that I wasn't. And I fell for it."

More excuses. Why did the man keep thinking I would fall for them? "So?"

"I worshipped him," he whispered.

"It doesn't make it any less your fault." I growled. I whipped around. " _You_ still did it. Not your father. Not the Dark Lord. You _chose_ mother. You chose her, and you still beat her, and raped her. Why did you even bother? Wouldn't you have been better off without us?"

He straightened, chin out. This was almost the Lucius Malfoy who had tormented my childhood. "I don't know why I should even try to explain, you'll just say it's excuses, so why bother?"

I wasn't going to let him off that easily. "I'm asking. I want to know," I said, glaring.

"You don't want to know."

I slapped him again. That cheek was getting awfully red, but Lucius ignored the sting, and that made the anger in me boil. "Don't tell me what I do and don't want to know. You've no right to do that any more! Tell me!"

His lips thinned. "Fine. Voldemort wanted me to join with him. But he knew my mother would never allow it."

"So?"

"I loved my mother and didn't want to displease her. She was so gentle and caring."

I snorted. A caring person in the Malfoy family? That was unheard of.

Lucius turned to look at the fireplace. "So Voldemort had my father kill her."

"Like I believe that."

"He was hoping it would draw me to his side, looking for comfort in him. And it worked. I went running to him…and he took me in."

"So?" I sneered. "You're weak. I knew that already. You're a coward, Lucius." Lucius nodded his head, and I watched as a tear slid down his reddened cheek before he brought up his maimed hand to wipe it away. If anything, this made me angrier. "You're crying? You're not allowed to cry!"

He met my eyes. "I'm sorry if that makes you uncomfortable."

I clenched my fists at my side. I wouldn't give him the satisfaction. "Do you know how many nights I cried because you deserted me? You aren't allowed the mercy of tears, Lucius."

He ignored this, still gazing at me. "Did you ever wonder why I named you Draco?"

What did this have to do with anything? "...Why?"

"Dragons are these majestic, powerful creatures. They represent freedom to me. Freedom from chains, able to fly freely through the air. You were my freedom.So how could I help but name you anything else?"

I looked down at my hands, and my voice dropped to a whisper. "I wish...I wish I could believe that. Wish I could believe you." I looked up at him again, barely managing a glare. "You liked the name because it made you feel free, but I shame you so much you won't even call me by it anymore? Is that it?"

"No, I named you that because _you_ made me feel free. You're my freedom, _my_ Draco."

"Not yours," I spat. "Never yours again. You haven't even bothered to call me by my name up until I mentioned it, Lucius."

Lucius flushed, unable to meet my eyes. "I was afraid to use that name."

My heart fell to my knees. Here it was. Finally. The truth. "Yes? And why is that?" I managed to keep the sneer on my face, but I could feel the burning in my eyes.

"I thought you'd be insulted to hear that name pass through my lips, Draco. That I'd sully it. Dirty it."

I snorted, but it was a watery snort. I was horrified with myself. I tried again to regain my mask of indifference. "What, by calling me it?"

"Yes," he said quietly.

"Because I know you have no problem with the name itself. So it must be me you have the problem with."

He looked sharply at me at this. "No."

"Am I so unworthy?"

I could see him shift towards me. "It's me. I'm unworthy to use your name."

I snorted again. "I don't believe you."

"I no longer have that right."

"Yes, you didn't want me, so I made sure that I wasn't your son any more."

"You changed your name, yes, but that doesn't change whose blood flows through your veins." His eyes were almost pleading now.

I snarled at him. "Don't think that doesn't hurt me every day, Lucius."

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "It never stops hurting, does it?"

"No."

He opened his eyes again and looked at me searchingly. "How can I show you why you are so important to me? Why was freedom so important? Let me show you." Lucius began to take off his cloak, and then the shirt underneath. He turned slowly around, and I couldn't stop the gasp. His entire back was a mass of very old scars. Long straight gashes that cut straight across his back, crossed by twining snakes of ridged flesh. I had to look away, but I was unable to stop the gasp that tore from my throat.

The voice he spoke in was mechanical, but he did not stop. "I touched my father's school medals. And he caught me. There used to be a whip that he kept on the mantle of this very fireplace."

I bent over the desk, gasping for breath, trying to keep from gagging. "Stop!"

"He pulled me into the room and shut the door so mother wouldn't hear me…"

I was sobbing now. I couldn't face him. I couldn't see what had been done to him any more. It was too much. "I don't want to hear...please!"

"He finally got tired after 15 minutes or so. And stopped."

My eyes were closed, and tears streamed down my cheeks. "Please stop..." I begged.

"I think I was about 10 years old. I can't think of anything else to prove it to you. But they're real. And so was the pain."

I whimpered, then sank to the floor. And then there was the clatter of Lucius's cane falling to the floor, and he was there, his arms around me. "I'm sorry, Draco. I'm so sorry."

I was horrified. When had the spell worn off? Had he been able to move this entire time? If so, why had he stayed? I tried to pull away, to get out of his embrace, but the desk was right there, and there was nowhere to go. I was shaking.

His voice was a calming whisper now. "I shouldn't have told you that. It doesn't concern you. Why should you know that about me? I'm sorry, Draco…son." I winced with each word, but still he held me. "I'm so sorry you had to hear that."

"Please..." I gasped. My eyes were shut tight. I couldn't look at him.

"Can you forgive me? I'll never speak of it again. I promise."

"Stop it...I...don't care." I managed to gather myself a bit, then pushed him away, stumbling to my feet. Lucius teetered for a moment, then fell to the floor. I looked at his crumpled body. Had I hurt him? He wasn't even moving. Was he…alive? "...Lucius?" There was no response. What had I done? "Father?" I whispered.

His voice was a croak. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry I can't be the man you want me to be." I knelt down next to him, but he simply lay there, curled up on his side, unmoving. His eyes were shut tight. "I'm sorry I'm a coward. And weak. And shameful in your eyes. And mine."

I reached out to touch his shoulder. He was shaking. "Father?" Lucius sat up slowly, and turned to meet my gaze. After a moment, his arms encircled my shoulders, and he pulled me to him, and began to sob. My tears soon joined his.

Finally, he pulled away from me. His eyes met mine, but he did not try to stop the tears which continued to slide down his cheeks. "I'm sorry. I was cruel and heartless and uncaring. I didn't know how to love or how to show my feelings. I had to be taught how to love. I do want you to be a part of my life, Draco. For always." Lucius took my face in his hands and kissed my cheeks.

I couldn't stop myself now. "Why couldn't you just love me?" It came out as a sob, and I shuddered. I couldn't meet his eyes.

Lucius took my chin in his hand and lifted my face so our eyes met. "I do love you, Draco." I closed my eyes. I wanted to hear this. I'd wanted to for longer than I could remember. "I can't tell it to you enough. It will never make up for the past."

But I couldn't believe it. I didn't deserve it. "No you don't. You can't. I'm not worth it. I'm sorry...I'm so sorry..."

His voice was steely. "Don't you ever apologize to me, Draco. You did nothing wrong. Ever." I opened my eyes. There was no guile there.

But he was wrong. I was hardly innocent in this. I'd kidnapped my own sisters. To hurt him. "I did everything wrong."

"No."

"I just wanted to be a part of your life. Whatever it took. Even if you had to hate me for it."

He shook me. "I cannot say it any other way, Draco. It's not your fault. I caused this." He took a deep breath. "You know, I regret everything about my former life—except you. But if I had it to do all over again, I wouldn't change a thing. Because if I did, I wouldn't have you. You are my boy. My baby boy. My Draco. The little boy with the sweet smile and the love that knew no bounds. And I took that from you. I have always loved you and I always will." Lucius looked at me now, and I couldn't look away, despite the tears that drenched my face. He pulled me in for another hug, and his voice was a whisper. "I love you Draco. I'm so sorry...son."

I put my arms around him and returned the hug. We stayed that way for a long time. No more words were necessary. Our tears continued to flow, right up to the moment when Snape entered the room.


	14. Embracing the Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: So, this is it, folks. The last chapter. Hope you enjoyed the story. I adore all of you for reading it, and I especially appreciate everyone who took time to comment on it. It's been a difficult story to write, as I tend to prefer romances, but the story seemed to want to be written, so…
> 
> Anyway, love it, hate it, I'd love to hear what you think. Did it suck? Why? What was your favorite part? Who did you like best? Who did I get totally wrong? Anything. Review at the bottom of the page, or email me at . I'd love to hear form you.

_Embracing the Dragon_

I turned towards the door when I heard a footstep. Snape stood there, just staring at us for several minutes, his expression unreadable. Luicus pulled himself up, and I stood as well, brushing myself off. By this point my anger had rekindled. "Is there something you needed?" I sneered at him.

His eyes flashed. He ignored me and turned to Lucius. "Are you alright, Lucius?"

He nodded. "Draco and I have reached an…understanding, I think," he said as he looked at me.

I glared at Snape, then looked at Lucius. " _We_ …understand each other, I think. But others have things to answer for."

Snape smiled thinly. "You think you're going to ambush me like you did your father, boy? Because I didn't cow tow to everything you wanted? Think again." I'd always admired that sneer, but now it just fed my anger.

"What do you know, you old fool? I was just a nuisance, wasn't I? Were you pleased when I was finally out of your hair? I bet you wish father and I had killed each other, don't you? Then your way would be clear, wouldn't it?"

Snape rolled his eyes. He glanced at Lucius, who was trying to look under the desk to find his wand. "Did you actually put up with this the whole time, Lucius? I'm amazed you didn't gag the boy within minutes."

Lucius looked up and growled at him, but before he could speak, I narrowed my eyes and advanced on the man. "Don't talk about me like I'm not here. You have a lot to answer for. Where were you when I needed you?" I growled.

Snape snorted and turned to me, looking down at me coldly. "I was exactly where you expected me to be, Draco. You knew just where to find me. If you didn't come to me, don't blame me for your little…" he looked me up and down. "…Temper tantrum. I don't coddle my Slytherins, Draco. You know that. If you wanted something from me, you knew exactly where to find me."

"Right, and you would have dropped everything for me? I don't think so."

"You're right. I probably wouldn't have. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have made any time for you, boy. Wake up, Draco. The world isn't a perfect place. Everyone needs to deal with their own problems. Life is hard for everyone. You're nothing special."

I knew he was right. Who was I? No one. But it wasn't though he had done anything for me since I had left the school…No, that was wrong. I took a deep breath. He was right. I'd known where to find him. He'd never shut the door on me, even when he thought I was out to hurt the girls, he'd welcomed me into his office with open arms. I hadn't even tried to see him until he had tried to interfere with my plans for the girls. But I could hardly say that to him. "So I'm just supposed to forget everything that happened?"

Lucius chuckled rustily. "No, Draco. No one expects that. But maybe it's time to let go, and to move on?"

I turned away from them. "Move on to what, exactly?"

"Draco, you were one of the top students at Hogwarts. Surely at least one of those subjects calls to you?"

I closed my eyes as Potions classes came back to me. The ingredients; the perfect, precise measurements; the way they all came together, just so. It was the only time I'd felt truly in my element at school. And, too, I was surrounded by my peers, Gryffindors to sneer at, and…my favourite teacher… I turned to look at him now. The grey hair and the lines in his face stood out to me again. It hadn't been so long since I'd left school, had it? "There was only ever one subject I enjoyed. Well, maybe two."

The corner of his mouth twitched. "Two?"

"Well, Arithmancy, of course…" I smirked at him.

He narrowed his eyes. He'd never liked game-playing much. "And?"

I looked at him pointedly, a slight grin on my face. "What do you think? You know me so well, after all…"

"Well, if you _want_ to play games, Draco, I can always offer Miss Granger the apprenticeship position that a colleague just told me about…"

"And why would I want to answer to anyone?"

"Because, Draco. You're good. But inside you know you can be great." His face was bland. "And you know you can't get there without training. And I can get you that position. And possibly a job after. But only if you're interested. And done playing games," he sneered.

"You'd do that for me? Even after all this?"

"You didn't hurt anyone, and I think between your father and myself, we can keep the girls' mother from charging you, or anything more drastic… As long as you try to fix this. We can't do everything for you, Draco. You have to meet us halfway. You have to try. This is your life. We can't tell you what to do anymore. You're an adult. But that also doesn't mean you have to do everything alone." He placed his hand on my shoulder. "I'd be proud to have you as a colleague, Draco. I know you'd make me proud."

I was speechless. This was huge praise from Snape. Even to his Slytherins, he'd always been less than approachable. He was always willing to stand up for us, but he expected us to stand our own ground as well, and praise was nearly unheard of. Even for his favourite student. I could feel my cheeks heat. "Thank you, sir."

"Does that mean you'll take the position?"

I thought for a moment, but really, what was there to think about? I nodded to him. "I'll give it a try, sir."

He smiled. "Good." He turned to Lucius, his eyebrow raised. "Do you need a hand, or are you steadier on your feet now?"

Lucius's eyes narrowed. "I'm _fine_ , Snape." He turned to me. "Could you retrieve my wand from where it rolled, Draco? I can't seem to find it."

I accioed his wand, which flew to my hand, then handed it to him.

Snape turned and started towards the door, leaving us to trail in his wake. I felt odd to be leaving here once again. It felt wrong. This was still home, despite the bad memories, the fact that it had been used by Voldemort for his hideout for a time, the fact that it had been deserted for years…It always would be home. Perhaps I could come back someday and reclaim it. Or…perhaps it was time to move on, like father and Snape suggested. Find a new place to call home. Start a new life.

As we walked out onto the drive, I looked up at the sky. There was only a thin crescent moon, which made the stars stand out much sharper. And there it was. Draco. Pale stars shining in the chilly black night. _My_ constellation. I remembered my father's words… " _Dragons are these majestic, powerful creatures. They represent freedom to me. Freedom from chains, able to fly freely through the air."_ Lucius had learned to live free, like the dragons. Perhaps I could use this new chance to do the same for me.

* * *

We're our own dragons as well as our own heroes, and we have to rescue ourselves from ourselves.

Tom Robbins


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